Alive
by FoxcatAI
Summary: Dying of asphyxiation was seriously not in my list of goals in life. Neither was meeting a Governor of the Afterlife and getting sent to another world for a second chance at life. OC.
1. Breathe

_**1\. Breathe**_

"Eins," a voice started.

"...Zwei." the second voice said, a little moodily.

"Drei!" the third voice piped up sportively.

A surge of pink smoke burst forth, clouding the visible scenery and filling the room with a misty, scentless fog. The smokescreen soon dissipated, revealing three suited figures, top-hats in their right hands, placed above the heart, in a respectful bow. Synchronously, the three fixed their posture, straightening their backs and standing upright.

The shortest of the three threw up her hat playfully as she took light steps forward, spun around three times, and magnificently caught her hat with her head. Dancing around with feathery steps in her ecstatic excitement. Despite her seemingly staggering, unstable steps, she didn't lose her balance for even a fraction of a second.

Giggling, she raised her right arm to the sky. "Ladies and Gentlemen!" she said in an announcement tone.

The second hatter sighed. He took two steps forward, and with a movement so swift no one could catch, he produced a black wand stick out of his hands. Revolving it around his knuckles a couple of times, he stopped to show the crowd as it had multiplied into two. Repeating his previous motion, it multiplied once more, into three.

His face was locked in a stale, unreadable expression as he tossed two of the batons to his two companions. Then, he gave a simple finishing bow. With a zestless tone, he spoke to the crowd. "Welcome once again, to the night of glory days."

The tallest of the three brought a polite smile up to his face-a smile that seemed nice and friendly, but upon closer look, did not reach his eyes. "We hope you enjoy the stay," he said, rolling the wand over his knuckles, finishing with a cliche bouquet popping out.

"Now, then," he began, "Let the show begin!"

Hundreds of doves emerged from under his sleeves. The crowd erupted in cheers. Music started to play.

 **My name is Drew Cite. I am the younger sister of two older brothers, Eve and Zen Cite. We live a mostly normal life. Although our parents are never really home, the three of us support each other to live.**

 **Since young, we've all been fascinated by magic. Our parents are travelling magicians, so we've been left at home by ourselves often. Inspired by their shows on television, we pursued our strong points and became a roadside circus of our own.**

* * *

"Mornin'." Zen Cite mumbled. Yawning, rubbing at his eyes, he staggered back and forth as he dropped down onto his seat on the dining table. His arms on the table, his head buried in them, he fell back to sleep almost instantly.

"Good morning, Zen." I said, placing down a mug of coffee in front of him. "Is Eve awake?" I asked, bringing a plate with a sandwich on it to the dining table.

"Mm?" Zen mumbled, his voice muffled. Taking a moment to register his surroundings, he got up to drink his coffee. Then, he picked up the sandwich. "Mm."

As if on cue, the oldest of us three walked into the room. "Morning, Zen, Drew." Eve Cite greeted, stepping into the room. A rare smile on his face, he settled down in his seat.

 **Eins, Zwei, and Drei. That was who we are.**

* * *

"Don't go to school." Eve said. "Please."

 _Huh?_ I stopped in my tracks. My hand was already at the doorknob, my bag over my shoulder. I turned to my brothers who were standing at the doorway. "What this, all of a sudden?" I asked, giving a light chuckle.

But I had a feeling it wasn't anything simple.

Eve's eyes, for once, showed genuine emotion. He was always the master of disguise. His smiles were never real for the crowd-his smile was something reserved for only Zen and I. But now, he wore a face full of worry and concern.

A hand was laid on the door, pushing it firm. Zen was very strong. I would never overpower him, and he knew that. He, as well, was stopping me from going out of the house.

"Guys?" I spoke up.

"Not today." Zen said.

I gulped. "I've got an important examination today." I began, "I can't miss it."

"Screw it." Eve snapped.

I flinched. Eve had _never_ spoken harshly against me. It was always just Zen. What's with them today? Of the three of us, I was the only one still in high school. Zen was three years into college and Eve was in his late twenties.

"But Eve, seriously."

"Just don't go!"

* * *

And then, I had charged out of the back door. I had better reflexes than them. I had long lost them, taking the long route to get to school.

"They're always ordering me around, gosh," I muttered spitefully under my breath, "They always say I gotta do this, gotta do that...then they never tell me WHY!?" I cursed out loud, kicking a stone at the wall. "They're always discussing things by themselves, never, EVER, including me! Why? Is it cause I'm a girl? Cause I'm literally ten years young than Eve?"

Why was I blowing up at them? Why now? I never voiced them out before.

"I'm not gonna listen to Eve anymore." I grumbled. "Never!"

However, I knew. After school, I would rush back home. I would run the whole way, going for the shortest route possible. And when I get home, I would act as if I hadn't dashed. Then, Eve would lecture me until dinnertime. Zen would be making dinner, serving us food to break off our argument.

According to routine, we would automatically make up, and then, we'd get dressed for work. We'd have fun with our magic, then we'd all go home. Together. But not today.

A foreign arm dragged me into an alley. Quickly, more hands took hold of my limbs, pinning them down and rendering them useless. A hand clasped my mouth shut.

"No screaming." the man with his hand over my mouth spoke up first. "Any strange moves and your left hand goes." he threatened, and I could feel the man who held my arms tighten his grip on my left wrist. Warily, my mouth was freed.

"Where are they?" he demanded.

 _They?_ I gulped. It had all happened so fast, I couldn't even react in time to avoid this turn of events. Taking a breath to calm myself, I ascertained the situation. There were four adults. They were all strong and many times bigger than I was. I may be proud of my reflexes, but my strength was as good as a kitten's. I had no way out of this.

What's worse, I had rounded a more isolated part of town. Well, there was this very beautiful lake round the corner stall. It was my personal safe haven, because nobody ever passes by. The chances of anyone coming in was zero. Even if someone noticed me, no one would interfere.

"Hurry up and answer!" the man demanded impatiently, putting a hand at my throat and pressing down lightly.

"I don't know...who you're talking about." I said, sounding calmer than I was.

A loud snap registered in my head. For a moment, I wondered where that sound came from. An irritating cramp was on my left wrist-then I realized the agony. Pain erupted through left arm, centering around my wrist. My arm fell limp beside me.

Then, I screamed.

A hand clamped out my mouth again, muffling the noise. "No more nonsense from you, girlie." he growled out lowly. "One more peep of bullshit from you, and your foot's next."

Tears prickled at the corners of my eyes, but I managed to stick my screaming at my throat. My breath was heavy, and the burning sensation in my arm was making my head spin nauseatingly.

"Mera and Biru. You just need to tell me where these two are." The hand on my face left my mouth as the man asked again, this time giving me something that sounded like names.

 _I don't know them._ I told myself. _I've never heard the names before._ Were those even proper English names? _What language, from what origin were those names?_ _Why would I know them? I've been living here for a long time, and everyone knows everyone around here._

"I don't know..." I choked out between sobs I didn't intend to make.

This time, I was very well aware of what the crack sound coming from my right foot was. Unprepared, I accidentally bit my bottom lip as I let out a pained howl.

The man gave me a hard slap to my cheek, annoyed. I didn't fall, as there were two hands grasping my unharmed limbs. The blow stung like needles on my face.

 _Why?_ I sniffed, tears rolling down my cheeks. _No more._

 _No._

"Woah, dude, she's crying." another man's voice piped in, genuine concern in his tone, "Aren't you going a little too far, I mean, what if she really doesn't-"

"Don't bullshit me!" the first man yelled. "We've got factual evidence that she has personal connections to the targets," he started, "What other proof do we need?"

 _Personal connections?_

"Look here, girlie. This is your last chance." the man grabbed my chin, "Where. Are. They."

 _No._

 _I don't know._

 _I really don't._

 _Please, no._

 _No..._

"Help me..." I whimpered softly.

The men went silent. The first man sighed. He leaned in, closing in on my ear. Speaking softly, but loud enough for the rest of the men to hear, he whispered into my ear.

"Wrong answer, bitch."

I was picked up by the collar, the other hands losing their grasps on me. This man held me up with only one hand, so he was incredibly strong. I knew I couldn't win, but I struggled desperately for life. They man walked somewhere, dragging me kicking and screaming to his destination.

I was wailing for help. I was sobbing uncontrollably. I was screaming out everything that came to my mind. This guy was going to kill me. You didn't need a genius to figure that out. At the moment, that was everything I thought about.

I didn't have time to worry about why this man was killing me. He just was. The agony that burned in my broken limbs barely registered in my mind.

I was clawing at his hand. I was positive I had made scratches that bled, but the man was completely unaffected by my futile attempt.

 **Help.**

 **Zen.**

 **Eve.**

 **Help.**

 **Save me.**

 **Anyone.**

 **I don't want to die.**

And then, we reached our destination. A crystal clear lake. It was a deep body of water, filled with a small number of fishes. The place I once called my safe haven was now staring back at me, registering in my head as the place I will experience my death.

"Let me go!" I shrieked. "Let me go!"

Then, I fell myself falling. The man had thrown me, and I was headed to the waters. I instinctively reached out for a nonexistent hand that didn't hold onto me.

I hit the waters.

I was falling. Sinking into the clutches of gravity, my movements obstructed by the inconsistent push and pull of the water current. My incapacitated limbs had grown numb. I could no longer move them.

I desperately kept the air in my lungs, but it quickly escaped. I wasn't mentally stable enough to focus on an act that required as much concentration. I flailed against the waters, but my limbs were foreign to movements in the water.

It hurt. The dire need for air flooded my senses. It was painful. My lungs screamed for air. The lack of oxygen ached. My heartbeat was so loud, I could feel it reverberating in my head.

 **Air.**

 **Air.**

 **Air.**

Was I crying? Even if I was, I couldn't tell. Despite the situation, one thought arose at the back of my mind.

 _Was this what people call fear?_

The surface was so close, yet so far. It was just slightly out of my reach. I only needed one more kick upwards to get there. I know how to swim. I know. Being halved of my limbs, I didn't make it in time.

I involuntarily gasped, yearning for a breath of the cold, sweet air, I was used to breathing. However, nothing but water entered my lungs. I lost energy, as if someone had pulled the lever of my body's circuit breaker.

I began to sink, gradually being pulled towards gravity.

The pain may have still been there, but my body was numbed. I barely even felt the cold. As the last of the air left my lungs, I felt one last throb of pain as my body spasmed.

Then, I felt nothing. No pain. No suffering. It was all gone. At that moment, I felt extreme bliss. I had forgotten why I was there at all.

Only one of my sensory organs worked now. I focused on my eyes, which were, for some reason, slowly drooping in heaviness. The scenery before me was breathtaking. I no longer had breath, but it was just so...pretty.

Corals that lined the shallower floors of the lake, the fishes that swam through it, avoiding my as they went with their usual business. I could only faintly see some things, as the sunlight could only show me so much.

Sadly, I couldn't admire it for long.

My eyelids began to feel increasingly heavy. _I should have slept earlier last night,_ I remember thinking. _It not every day I can see such a scene, after all._

 _I should take a nap._ I thought. _A short and rejuvenating power nap._

I closed my eyes, still fighting back sleep for another while.

 _When I wake up,_ I remember reminding myself,

 _I'll bring Zen and Eve here and show them this._


	2. Void

_**2\. Void**_

"Eins," a voice started.

"...Zwei." the second voice said, a little moodily.

"Drei!" the third voice piped up sportively.

 **Huh?**

A surge of pink smoke burst forth, clouding the visible scenery and filling the room with a misty, scentless fog. The smokescreen soon dissipated, revealing three suited figures, top-hats in their right hands, placed above the heart, in a respectful bow. Synchronously, the three fixed their posture, straightening their backs and standing upright.

 **I let out a light chuckle. How nostalgic. That's our usual performance.**

 **Nostalgia? Why do I feel this way?**

The shortest of the three would then perform the childish act of tossing her hat upwards, prancing three steps ahead, and catching the hat with her head.

 **It was an act I would always do. It was my signature, it was the beginning of our show. And then, she would say...**

"Ladies and Gentlemen!"

 **We had spoken in complete unison.** **I chuckled. Wincing at my parched throat, I frowned. Was my throat always so dry?**

I looked at myself. She was wearing her favourite white tailcoat. It was garnished with green details, finished with a green tie. Her top hat was white, with a green ribbon tied into a fancy and huge, yet somehow adorable bow. Upon closer look, her hair was tied into a low ponytail, part of her fringe pinned up with two bobby pins with a red and blue gem.

 **Why am I looking at myself?**

* * *

"Drew." my brother called for me.

"Hm?" I made a response, looking into his room. Zen and Eve didn't share a room, but now, the three of us were standing in the same room.

"Close your eyes." Eve said playfully. From the corner of my eyes, I could see Zen with both hands behind his back, obviously hiding something. The desk was a mess.

I giggled lightly. Obediently, I closed my eyes. "You better not draw on my face or something, kay?"

"We won't." Eve whined. "Just stay still."

I felt warm fingers brush across my forehead. Warm fingers. Warm hands. This was Zen.

"Okay," said Zen. The warmth of his hands left my forehead, quickly being replaced by cold hands petting my head. Cold hands. Eve had cold hands.

"Open your eyes." he said, removing his hand.

I saw a mirror. Myself. However, my bangs were brushed apart. Two bobby pins held them up. Each pin had a gemstone on it. One was red, one was blue.

"Do you like it?" Eve asked. "They're real gems."

I was at a lost for words. "How-These-these are real?!"

Zen nodded, putting out a V. "100%. It's small, but that's an actual ruby and sapphire stone."

"I-I can't wear these! How expensive were these? This is crazy-this is the kind of stuff you hide in a safe!" I freaked out. "I mean, I mean-"

Eve put a hand on my head in attempt to calm me. "Oh c'mon, dear. Everyone probably thinks they're fake. I mean, who'd be wearing that? But you gotta wear that."

"Eve, what even-"

"It's a perfect fit, ain't it?" Eve interrupted me. "Red, Blue and Green." He counted in his fingers. "If three gemstones like these come together, the contrast in their colors are beautiful, don't you think?"

"Green?" I piqued.

"Well, unlike me and Eve..." Zen mumbled, "You've got mom's eyes."

I blushed. In fact, I _was_ the only child in the family with our mother's emerald green eyes. But this was just-I'm so embarrassed.

"Oh, her face is all red." Eve teased.

"Camera, camera." Zen followed, speaking with a joking intention but still in his monotonous speech.

"Heeeyyy!" I whined. Eve and Zen laughed, and I followed. I wrapped my arms around them both. "Thank you." I said gratefully,

"Thanks, Zen. Thanks, Eve."

The two smiled warmly. They turned to each other, their eyes meeting for a moment. Then, they turned back to me.

"You're welcome." Zen said, petting my head softly.

"Happy birthday, Drew." Eve said.

* * *

 **Ah. I know now.**

I was watching the scene, sitting down, calmly, as if it was a movie.

 **I'm dead.**

I remembered. It took me a while. My hair was put up in a way I usually did for school, with my pins holding up my fringe.

 **I drowned.**

There were injuries on me. My left wrist and right ankle were badly swollen, a growth to twice their size a sickly shade of purple where I knew it had been snapped. However, there was no pain. I felt no pain, aside from the dryness of my throat that couldn't be quenched no matter how much saliva I swallowed.

I felt nothing. No despair, no fear, no hate, no guilt, no pain, no sadness, no nothing. It was just like _Oh, I'm dead? Oh, well._

 **I'm watching my life flash before my eyes?**

I wonder what Zen and Eve are doing now. Did they find me? Are they mourning my death? Or are they still searching? Have they gone on with the show without me? Has my death affected them positively, negatively, or at all?

What happened to those thugs? Did they find their target? Who were they, anyway?

 **Where am I, even?**

Was this what lay beyond death? Nothingness? Was Heaven and Hell a lie? All that lay beyond death was a Void... A space of nothingness, where nothing exists, nothing is created, and nothing is left behind?

 **I guess it's not so bad.**

After all, I no longer have any petty human emotions in my way. I can faintly remember my last. The fear I felt. The desperate crying. How quickly my heart beat. How painful agony was.

Here, I feel nothing. Here, pain and fear didn't exist. Here, I'm in complete bliss. I really wouldn't mind staying here forever. After all, there's no suffering. I don't even need to work.

* * *

"Oh, I found another one."

I opened my eyes slowly. Someone had spoken. In this infinite darkness with not a single thing in sight, someone had spoken.

 **Who's there?**

There was a response. The voice gave a low, distant chuckle that echoed across the ebony horizon. "I am a governor. That's who's there."

 **A governor? Not a god?**

"Yeap." it said. "Well, if you want to know, there are three governors for the afterlife. There's Heaven, Hell, and me." he laughed again, reminding me faintly of a talkative grandpa in my neighborhood, "You could call me the Void."

 **The Void... so is this place like heaven or hell? Where the dead are sent to live forever?**

"Nah. Lessee... When people die, they all get sent to the same place. Here. And that's when the selection takes place." it began explaining. "Heaven takes the good people. Hell takes the bad." the Void said. "But y'know, there are just _some_ annoying people that die in some complicating way that the three of us can't come to an agreement on where they'll go."

 **What kind of people are those?**

"People filled to the brim with regrets-people who left the Earth with strong feelings of guilt and yearns to avenge their precious someone-they don't really deserve to go anywhere but back to Earth, y'know?" it continued, "Also, there are some people, like you, who just plain don't feel anything. Those that gave up, on both life, and death. You want to stay here, in this dark emptiness, forever."

I heard him sigh. "Well, I'm to deal with those annoying people." he said. "I basically send them back to the Earth."

I blinked. It wasn't really surprising, but I was just-bewildered? He popped out of nowhere and began vomiting all this information on me-I get he's some sort of governor of the afterlife or something, but is he supposed to be explaining the Afterlife Monarchy Rules to me?

 **This guy has no physical form. I don't really know where to look.**

"So, kid." he started, giving me a start. "I'm basically giving you a new life. This life will be a living Dante's inferno, I tell ya." he said, giving a weird metaphor. "Well, I send all my people to worlds different from their original, so you'll have to be prepared. There's no telling what kind of world you'll be in, or what changes will happen to your body as it adapts to the new world you will be reincarnated in."

 **Wait, wha-**

"You'll go through hardships. A lot more than what you've already gone through. You'll have lasting effects from whatever you died from, including some pretty birthmarks-cause this system is so shitty they can't even give you a proper human body-but this is your one and only second chance at life! Use it wisely!"

 **Huh?**

All of a sudden, I began falling.

Falling into the endless, bottomless abyss of the Void.


	3. Life

_**3\. Life**_

"Rei-chaaan!"

Caught completely off guard with an ambush from the back, two figures tackled me down. Ending up with my face in the soil, the two smaller figures settled down comfortably on my back.

"Hehee." the first voice was cheeky and mischievous. "Rei-chan fell for it again!" she giggled.

"Nii-chan's weak." the second voice was a little calmer, her tone a tad stony but comical.

I sighed. Pulling at least my face off the ground, placing my hands for a pillow at my chin, I settled down. "I see, I see." I mumbled in a fake resigned tone, "I guess Rei-chan's not gonna make dinner today."

"EHH?" the first girl shrieked, rocking my body desperately, "What do we do, Sui? Rei-chan's angry!" she turned to the second girl, seeking help.

"Sui is sorry." said the second girl, already on her knees in front of me, bowing in a dogeza. Her expression was, as usual, monotonous.

"Ahhh! No fair!" the first girl whined, getting off my back and settling down on her knees in front of me. "Sae is sorry too!"

I chuckled. "Seriously, you two."

* * *

 **My name is Rei. Ninomiya Rei. I am currently seven years old. I live in a peaceful town in Japan, known as Namimori. I have two sisters, Sae and Sui. They're five this year. Our parent is a little busy, so we're often left with our nanny, Lula. Lula is pretty old, so I often help her out with the chores.**

"Rei-chan, what's dinner?" Sae asked, clinging onto my leg.

"I smell eggs." Sui subtly added, materializing at my other leg.

Stepping down from the stool with plates held well above my head, I stepped towards the dining table. The twins scurried away, grabbing plates from the lower shelves and helping me set them up. I put the final plate in the middle of the table.

"Okay. Go wake Mama Lula up." I asked them.

"Kaaay!" Sae cheered and they both ran out of the door.

* * *

"See ya later, Rei-chan!" Sae waved.

"Bye-bye." Sui added, "Nii-chan."

Giving them a smile, I waved back. "Don't trouble the teachers too much, okay?" I warned. I turned to the old lady beside them. "Then, I'll be going as well, Mama Lula."

The old lady smiled back at me. "Have fun at school, Rei."

* * *

 **My parents had always, from young, forbidden me from any intense exercise. I wasn't allowed to play with the other children, and the teachers and adults in town were all in on the plan.** **No one gave me a reason. As a child, I wasn't allowed to cross the borders into the adult's world.**

 **'We're doing this for your own sake', they always say, 'in time, you'll understand.'**

 **But my childhood wasn't all that bad. After all, I had Sae, Sui, Mama Luna...and Takeshi.**

"Morning, Rei!" I felt an arm sling around my shoulders, snapping me out of my thoughts. A black-haired boy, taller than me a few inches, greeted me with a blinding smile on his face.

"Takeshi!" I gasped, "You surprised me!"

Yamamoto Takeshi. We've been in the same preschool, and joined the same elementary as well. Our houses are close by, and we somehow became best friends.

"Let's go!" Taking me by the arm, he began running into he school. Surprised, I let out an unintentionally high-pitched shriek. I really wasn't supposed to be doing any intense running, and I definitely knew the consequences, but I'd decided to ignore it.

He let go of my arm, but I continued dashing. We began running, laughing as we raced for who would reach the front door first. Reaching the steps a fraction of a second before Takeshi, I pushed the door open, stepped inside, and declared loudly, "Goooall!"

I leaned a hand against the wall, catching my breath. Takeshi stopped right behind me, catching his breath as well. We chuckled.

"Awh, shucks." he whined lazily, "You're just too fast."

"Never gonna win me, Takeshi." I said, giving him a toothy grin. I point a thumb at myself proudly. "After all, I'm immortal!"

"NINOMIYA!" someone hollered from the other end of the room.

"Yikes, he's here." I mumbled. "We'd better run, Takeshi."

"And where are you going?" a female voice came from the door. It was a girl with short auburn hair, her arms crossed and her face scrunched up in an annoyed expression.

"Kyoko!" I groaned, "How did you get behind us?"

"You charged past me on the way here, for your information." she retorted, "Also, Rei-kun, you're not supposed to be running, much less _sprinting_ at all!" she started her lecture. She then turned to Takeshi, "Also Yamamoto-kun, you're not supposed to be helping him either!"

Takeshi laughed at that. "Sorry, sorry."

I puffed up my cheeks, pouting. "But if I never get any exercise at all, moss is gonna grow outta my head." I whined childishly-well, in fact, I _am_ a child.

"Ninomiya!" an adult man's voice interrupted us all.

I flinched. Giving a sigh, I turned around slowly, feigning a smile and giving him a friendly wave. "Hey, Kuma-sensei."

"Morn's, Kuma-sensei!" Takeshi greeted too.

"Good morning, Kuma-sensei." Kyoko added politely.

"It's Kunomasu!" he corrected angrily, "And how many times do I have to tell you not to RUN?! That is the 51st time this year!"

"Woah, he counted." I couldn't resist saying.

"Ahaha!" Takeshi laughed. "Now, now, Kuma-sensei, Rei's completely fine, ain't he?"

"Yep. Rei-chan is perfectly, flawlessly fine." I added, peeking out cautiously, hiding at Takeshi's back.

"Listen, I'm your frickin school nurse!" Kuma-sensei snapped.

* * *

 **When I was three years old, I began to become increasingly conscious of my surroundings. I started taking in information of where I was, what I did, why I did it and how. I started seeing the world in terms of scientific experimentation. I didn't even know why. I just did. I felt like I needed to do it.**

 **As the number of words I learned in my first language increased, more words appeared in my mind. Words that meant the same thing, but were words that came from a different country-words that were in a different language.**

 **How did I know these words? I just did.**

 **I just did.**

"Yamamoto-kun," the teacher called out. He had been giving out his test papers, and finally reached the one student he just couldn't bear.

The black-haired boy stepped in front, grinning bashfully ear to ear as he picked up his test from the teacher's hands, knowing exactly what his results were.

Saionji-sensei gave a resigned sigh. "Work harder, y'know? At least _try?_ "

Takeshi laughed, rubbing the back of his head bashfully, "Sorry, my bad, sensei."

Saionji-sensei gave another sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose in an oncoming headache. He peeked at the next paper in his hands, and gave a sigh of relief. He looked up, trying to forget about Takeshi's fantastic failing grade. "Ninomiya-kun."

Standing up quickly, passing Takeshi, I sneaked a look at his papers. This time, he had gotten twenty percent. In my opinion, it was an improvement. Just two months ago, he had been struggling to get double digits. But, of course, Saionji-sensei wouldn't notice something like that. He had nearly fifty students in this class.

"You did great!" he praised, "Keep up the good work!"

I looked at my paper. Triple digits. _Again._ I internally sighed. Instead, I gave Saionji-sensei a cheeky, prideful grin. "Thanks, sensei!" I said happily.

 **As I entered preschool, I'd found that I already knew everything. I knew everything the teachers were teaching us. When I visited the town library, I could decipher the complicated functions of a college math textbook. I had never learned any of those terms before, yet I just knew it. Even Mama Lula had never taught me any of it, yet I knew.**

 **I could read better in English than in Japanese. I could understand Chinese and French, though not as well. At the time, five-year-old me was plainly fascinated. Was this magic? How did I understand all of this?**

 **If this had anything to do with t** **he reason I can't go out to play-maybe I'm a mythical being of knowledge and the adults are trying to keep me from getting hurt?**

 **Whatever the case, I loved to imagine.**

* * *

"I'm home, Sae, Sui." I said, entering the house with my packet of groceries.

"Welcome backk!" the two came rushing from upstairs, tackling me with enough force to bring me down.

"Welcome back, Rei." Mama Lula greeted me at the doorway to the dining room. "Perfect timing. There's a call for you from the Master." she informed.

"A call?" I inquired. I turned to the twins, "Go get changed for dinner, kay?" I told them, and they scurried off. I headed into the kitchen, where the phone was, and picked it up.

"Hey, this is Rei." I said.

 _It's been a long while._

My eyes twitched. This voice was-

 _Are you three eating well?_

I was biting on my bottom lip, trying to hold back on my emotions. Hesitantly, I let out a shaky breath. I put on an obviously fake smile on my face. "Oh my god, long time no talk, dad!" I tried to sound excited, and did a pretty good job, "I miss you so bad."

 _Ahahaha. Glad you sound as cheerful as ever, son._

"When are you coming back?" I asked, "Anytime soon yet?"

The man at the other end went silent for a moment.

 _Sorry, Rei. I'm really busy nowadays and..._

I tightened my grip on the phone, my face falling. "Oh," I said disappointingly, my emotions half genuine, "It's okay, dad. It's completely fine! We've got Mama Lula with us, after all!"

 _Rei._

"Hm?"

 _Thank you._

Those two words took my breath away. "Eh-?" I was at a lost for words, and before I could think up of something to reply, the man at the other end had hung up. I put down the phone.

I hated talking to that man. I never know why he says what he says.

"Rei?" Mama Lula spoke up. I turned to her. She smiled at me. Her kind and somehow very warm smile that always calmed me down.

"I'm fine." I told her, trying to imitate her smile but probably failing. "Dad called to say he's not coming back for New Year's."

"And Rururi caught the mouse! With her bare hands!" Sae announced loudly, moving her arms around in excitement.

"Woah!" I gaped exaggeratedly.

"But then Yuki-sensei scolded her." Sui mumbled, inhaling her food impatiently. She then put down her bowl, contented with her meal.

"Well, she would." I laughed. I picked up a cloth from the table and wiped her mouth clean.

"And Rei-chan, Rei-chan! Sae's got 90 points on her exam today!" Sae took my attention again. I turned to her to see she had a piece of paper in her hands.

"That's awesome!" I patted her on the head, "Sae's really smart, eh?"

"You can praise me more!" Sae bragged proudly.

I chuckled, turning to Sui. "Sui, what about you?"

Sui visibly jolted. She averted her gaze, looking at the ground. Dripping with cold sweat, I could literally see how much information was going through her mind.

"Did you get a higher result than last time?" I decided to ask, interrupting her furiously transgressing train of thought.

Sui turned to me, a little surprised at my question. For a long moment, she seemed to be recalling her previous result. Eventually, she shook her head.

At that, I gave her a pat on the head and ruffled her hair. "That's okay for me." I assured her, "Y'see, life is an endless stairway. You may fall or want to give up in the middle, but you've gotta keep climbing."

Sui seemed a little bewildered, a little confused at my words-did she really understand what I was talking about? Oh, well.

"Sae too." I turned to the other. "Even if you fall to the very bottom, Rei-chan will help you get all the way up again."

At that, the two jumped at me.

"Rei-chan, I love youuu!"

* * *

 _ **Extra:**_

"Hey, kid."

I turned to the older man on the other swing. I met this guy when I was five. He was sitting on my usual swing all lonely and depressed-looking, so I decided to sit by with him, too. We knocked up a conversation, and since then because something short of friends.

"How's school?" he asked, his eyes as dead and lifeless as ever.

I turned to the sky. "Boring." I answered simply.

He let out a dry chuckle. "Made any new friends?" he asked again.

"Well..." I trailed off.

"Y'see, I lost my job again." he started. "My debt's increasing, too. My parents aren't giving me any more money." he mumbled, his voice getting softer at each word. He sighed. "I guess this is the end of the line for me."

I spared him a glance. I didn't feel any sort of annoyance or pity-I just liked listening to him. He was the epitome of a failing adult, and that interested me, a child who had been surrounded with nothing but successful adults with stable jobs.

I didn't know what I could say. I was always here to listen, but I'm never the type of person to give proper advice. I didn't want to say the wrong things, so I kept silent.

"Could I ask a question?" he asked.

I looked up. _Hm?_

"Is there something in this world you could call your happiness?" he inquired, this time looking at me with a smile that didn't reach his eyes.

"Hmm," I thought for a moment. At that time, I faintly knew it was a strange question, but I didn't really think much of it. It was a question, and questions are asked to be answered. "My whole life is my happiness." I spread my arms to emphasize the size, "All the fun things, all the sad things, and all the annoying things, too!"

He seemed surprised, taken aback, by the answer.

"Everyone's got happiness," I told him. "I think he just needs to find it!"

He looked at me for a long moment. A small smile graced his face-a smile that, to me, looked the slightest bit more genuine than every other smile he's ever given me.

And I smiled back.

 **The next day, he didn't show up.**

 **The week after, I heard he had committed suicide.**


	4. Fall

_**4\. Fall**_

"Sae, Sui, Mama Lula!" I called, standing at the front door with a pack of lunch boxes. It was early spring, and the cherry blossoms were in full bloom. or the sake of seasonal tradition, we were headed out for flower viewing. "Are you guys ready to go?"

As if on cue, the twins charged out the door, skipping at each step. "Wait, Rei-chan!" Sae ran ahead of her younger sister, a bright smile on her face as she headed toward me. Meanwhile, Sui was helping Mama Luna with holding a basket of thermos bottles as Mama Luna locked up.

I held Sae's hand and Mama Luna held Sui's hand as the four of us headed toward Namimori Park, chatting about random things.

"Red man, green man-" Sae chanted over and over again as we waited for the traffic lights to change, "Green man, green man, red man, green man-"

I chuckled. _Sae's black hair is put up in twin tail's today,_ I noticed. _Like that vocaloid with teal hair-_ I stopped myself. _What's a vocaloid?_

I gritted my teeth. _Again,_ I growled, careful not to say it out loud, _these weird recollections of things that probably don't exist._

"Rei?" Sae spoke up. "The green man's here."

I snapped out of it. The light was green. Quickly, I gave my sister a dry chuckle. "Sorry, I was daydreaming!" I made up an excuse that wasn't far from the truth. "Let's go."

Rushing them so they wouldn't ask questions, I led Sae across the road. Sae, brushing ff my earlier behavior, ran ahead of me, dragging me along instead of the other way around.

"Hey, Sae, not so fast or you'll tri-"

Roughly, I tugged her back. I pulled her behind me just in time to avoid a zooming motorbike that nearly blew me off my feet. Sae screamed, and when she'd realized what had nearly happened, she began crying.

I quickly wrapped her in my arms, trying to soothe her. I looked towards the bike which had gone a well distance beyond us now. It was too far away for me to catch the number plate, and I cursed mentally at that.

"Oh god," I heard Mama Luna gasp as she rushed over to us, "My god," putting the basket on the ground and checking for injuries, "Are you okay?"

Realizing we were still in the middle of the road, I picked up Sae with one arm and ran to the sidewalk. Mama Luna, catching my drift, took Sui's hand and the basket and made her way over too.

Sae was sniffling and wailing into my chest, and I could do nothing but hold her, rubbing soothing circles around her back for the littlest comfort I could give her.

Mama Luna watched closely, her face stained with worry and concern. I turned to Sui. She hadn't spoken a single word, and now I knew the reason. She was frozen in shock. There were no tears, but she was clearly freaked out; scared.

I put down the lunch boxes and signaled for the youngest to come over. Complying obediently, she took small, hesitant steps forward, then dove into me.

"It's okay," I whispered to them, "It's all okay." They both clung deeper in for some reason. After thinking a long time for what to say, I decided to assure them. "Rei-chan's here."

The first to look up was Sae. "Really?" she asked, her voice muffled by her running nose and her eyes dripping with tears.

"Promise?" Sui added, tears prickling at the corners of her eyes.

I laughed at that. "Yep, and Mama Lula's here too." I patted them both on the head. "We'll both be here forever."

 **Well, maybe not forever, but hopefully, long enough.**

* * *

Now, we ran. Playing chase. Thankfully, the incident seemed to have drifted to the back of their minds, and they laughed, like the children they were.

 _Huh? am I running?_

Suddenly realizing the fact, I stopped short. I looked around. We had somehow wandered into a more isolated part of the park, near an empty road and away from the center, a place where there was nothing. A plain.

"Sae, Sui!" I called out to the girls in the distance, "Let's go back to where Mama Lula is!"

They didn't hear me. They were still running, headed towards the woods.

 _I've to run after them._

But the first step I took was met with a strangely familiar pang of pain. My breath stuck in my throat and no sound came from my mouth. I fell to my knees and couldn't get up.

I tried to take a breath, but the strength to gather oxygen didn't muster. I stayed on the ground, hacking and coughing. My lungs were agony, and tears unintentionally welled up in my eyes at the strain.

What was this?

"Rei!" A voice broke through my thoughts.

That was when I realized how blurry my vision was. Black shadows filled my view as I lifted my head to discern the owner of the voice. I saw Mama Lula.

Sae and Sui were standing around too, along with an older man I didn't recognize. I tried to speak, but I erupted into a coughing fit.

"Rei?!"

"Ambulance! Call an ambulance!"


	5. Break

_**5\. Break**_

 _"Welcome home, Drew." an older male smiled at me._

 _Huh? My body moved, stepping into the home my mind told me was unfamiliar to me. (My body, however, knew the house like it was their own.) Taking off my shoes, **I** stepped into the house, jumping into a surprise hug._

 _"I'm home~!" I heard **me** say-was this a girl's voice?_

 _"Did you have fun?" Eve chuckled, patting me on the head gently, returning the hug briefly before we broke apart._

 _(How did I know his name?)_

 _"Yep!" **I** replied._

 _Another male showed up from the kitchen-Zen, my mind told me-and calmly called out to us both. "Dinner's ready. You're hungry, aren't ya? we got work today."_

 _Eve took my hand, and we made our way into the kitchen._

 _We passed a mirror, and I stole a glance-A girl? **Her** hair was black, and **the girl** had eyes the same colour as mine-a bright, serene shade of harlequin green._

* * *

I woke up with a start. My breathing was laboured; my eyes had widened; my fists were clenched. I took a second to recover my surroundings-

An unfamiliar ceiling. White sheets. Different clothes. An IV drip. A breathing mask. The beeping of a heart monitor?

A hospital room.

I quickly pushed myself up, my lungs burning at the sudden movement. I cringed at the pain, reaching up to remove the obstructive mask over my face. I caught sight of a small mirror on my bedside table.

Quickly, I picked it up. I saw a boy-a boy with hair a peculiar shade of sandy brown. I breathed a sigh of relief.

 _Calm down, Rei,_ I told myself, _That was just a really weird dream._

"But," I was a little surprised at how much energy it took to speak, "What happened?"

Someone was at my bedside. Her head laid on the bed and her lower body slumped on the floor, she was asleep-soundly, but the corners of her eyes were red.

 _Sae,_ I realized.

The door opened. I turned to it quickly, to see Sui standint here, a mortified expression on her face. She dropped what she was holding-a school bag-and ran over, diving into me.

"Rei," she called softly, sniffling and crying, "Rei, I was so worried."

I put my hands on her head, rubbing her head gently, ruffling her hair soothingly. I bit my lips-her eyes were red, but there were visible eyebags under her eyes. what kind of brother am I to make her worry like this?

"I'm sorry, Sui," I brushed her bangs away and planted a kiss on her forehead.

* * *

Sae and Sui were at school, and I felt well enough to get up, so I decided to take a walk around the hospital. However, I heard Mama Lula and the doctor speaking on the other side of the door.

 _What exactly is wrong with my body?  
_

 _(Will they tell a seven-year-old like me?)_

 _((Have they ever?))  
_

I leaned my ear against the door, listening into their conversation.

"The father of the child has not informed you, I see." the doctor said, "Well, he actually has a very peculiar lung condition."

 _How cliche,_ was my first thought. I quickly brushed off the thought and listened as the doctor continued talking.

"He was born with a lung that only worked when it wanted to." he started, "it's kind of like acute respiratory failure, the only difference being his lungs just doesn't want to accept any air into them."

 _Acute respiratory failure: when fluid builds up in the airsacs in your lungs. When that happens, your lungs can't release oxygen intoyour blood. In turn, your organs can't get enough oxygenated blood tofunction.  
_

 _(Again, the random information I shouldn't know floats into my brain.)  
_

"It's the first time we've ever seen something like this," he said, "we'd love to keep the boy here for longer, especially since we have absolutely no idea when he would experience another attack, or even how to deal with these attacks, but we have virtually no right to keep him in here for research purposes."

What he said struck me. That part. _We have no idea how to deal with these attacks_.

"Up until now, the attacks would stop when we administer CPR, but we have no clue as to whether it would work forever." the doctor said.

"So basically, he can die at any moment right now, and there's nothing we can do about it."

* * *

 _"So basically, he can die at any moment right now, and there's nothing we can do about it."_

I sat on my bed, staring out of the window. My mind was blank as I quietly repeated those words in my head.

 _How would it feel to die?_

A while ago, when I had that attack-it's a little faint now, not very clear in my memory, but I remembered one thing- _It hurt. A lot._

Would dying be like that? Was I experiencing death? Would death be the same, the only difference being I won't wake up again?

 _If I was gonna die, why was I born into this world?_

Questions flooded my mind.

 _This is stupid._

 _Why me?_

 _Why do I have to die again?_

...

 _(Again? What do I mean, again?)_

* * *

 _"Thanatophobia, the fear of death." **she** was flipping through a book. **She** was reading up a list of phobias as if they were the most interesting things in the world. "Thanatophobia-Thanatos, the Greek God of Death." **She** mumbled._

 _"Why would people fear death?" **She** wondered out loud, "It's not like we've ever experienced it before. Why would we be scared of something we don't know?"  
_

 _ **She** flipped the page._

 _"Xenophobia, the fear of the unknown." **she** read out. **She** rested her chin on an arm as **she** sighed, "Irrational fear caused by negative thinking which arises from anxiety."_

 _ **She** continued reading, but I could no longer hear. I was thrown into a soundless world, where I could see **her** mouth move, but no sound reached my ears._

 _"Hydrophobia, also known as Aquaphobia."  
_

 _I could suddenly hear. I looked up, to see **the girl** standing before me, the book gone, **her** eyes staring straight into mine.  
_

 _"The fear of drowning."  
_

* * *

I woke up. _When did I fall asleep?_ I may never know, but the sun was setting. Sae sat beside me, reading a book quietly. When she noticed me, she smiled sweetly and greeted me with a soft good morning.

Sitting up slowly, I greeted back, returning the smile.

 _It's just a stupid dream._

 _It's just a stupid dream._

 _I'm fine.  
_

* * *

"Rei-chan, are you okay?"

Sui asks me. I nod, although my head felt heavier than ever. I could feel the heat from my head, causing a slight throb whenever I moved it.

"You fever isn't going down..." she mumbled, worried. She replaces the wet cloth on my forehead, and I feel my eyelids closing against my will.

 _No,_ I told myself, _I don't want to sleep._

 _I'll see dreams about that girl again._

* * *

 _A circus. Although there were only three performers, I was definitely in a circus tent. This time, I wasn't looking from **the girl'** s point of view. I wasn't a spectator either. I was just there-a ghost, a spirit wandering about in the crowd._

 _The first clown wore a peculiar green tailcoat-I vaguely recognized her as **the girl**. **She** was shorter than the other two, whom I guessed to be Eve and Zen, **her** older brothers._

 _ **The girl** was incredible. **She** threw off her tailcoat to reveal something akin to a bodysuit, then proceeding to the trapeze. Despite being alone, **she** pulled off an utterly magnificent and flawless performance, earning a roaring standing ovation from the crowd._

 _ **The girl** beamed brightly. A smile so innocent and sweet, so childlike and pure._

 _A smile so very happy._

* * *

Who was **that girl**? No matter how much I wanted to ask, I had no one to ask. No one would answer me. No one could answer me.

All I could do was watch **her** life through my dreams.

It's been two weeks since the start of these dreams, and each dream was different. As I watched, I couldn't help but wonder-why was I watching these? Why me, Why **her**?

What is so special about the two of us?

* * *

 **I found the answer to that question today.**

 _I watched as she fought with her brothers over something trivial-and she stormed out of the house, taking a long route to school._

 _I watched as she was dragged into the alley. I watched as fear flooded her senses. I watched as they shattered her limbs-I watched as she screamed, yearning for help that never came.  
_

 _I watched as she drowned, helpless._

 _I watched as she died._

* * *

This time I woke up, tears were in my eyes. My fever broke _,_ but Sae and Sui weren't around. _School,_ I guessed. I wiped the tears away with my sleeves.

 _Everything makes so much sense now._

Memories began to resurface _-I don't need dreams anymore, do I?_

Drew Cite is dead.

 **I died.**


	6. Wail

_**6\. Wail**_

"They say that birthmarks are a scar of how you've died in your previous life." I told Sae and Sui. I held out my left hand, admiring the light trail of porcelain white that ran like a bracelet around my wrist.

"Really?" Sae asked, interested.

"It's just a myth," I chuckled. "I really wonder though."

Reincarnation is real, huh? That's a surprise.

Am I supposed to just go _oh I'm dead, okay. Wow! I got reincarnated into a cool anime world, that's hella cool!_ or something? What next, I'm gonna be some mysterious kid that approaches Tsuna and gets involved in their lives or something?

 ** _Get real._**

I got killed. And why? Because I was apparently seen with two people those nameless mob characters were targeting? What were the names again-Maltese? Bitchu? Do I even want to remember them?

 _I swear to god if I ever see those fuckers again-_

Seriously, Drew? You're not even in the same world anymore. How are you going to get your revenge? Forget revenge, you can't even go back to your own world anymore.

You're stuck in this dying body for no particular reason.

You're gonna die once more, and this time, you probably won't get reincarnated. You'll be dropped down to the deepest depths of hell, and you can't climb back up.

"Rei-chan?"

"Reeeei-chan!"

I snapped back to reality, putting on a poker face and turning to Sae. "What is it?" I asked, forcing out a smile.

Sae showed a disappointed face before she spoke up again. "Are you actually feeling alright?" she asked.

I nodded. "Of course! I'm all better now." I reassured her.

She looked a little skeptical, but soon Mama Lula walked in and said they had to get going as visiting hours were over.

* * *

Eve, I missed him. His smiles that were fake, yet flawlessly genuine. His kind and caring smile. His eyes, ones that could always see through my every thought. Ones that could read me like a book.

Zen, I want to see him again. He dishonest denials. His gentle reprimanding. His strict attitude that didn't care if people hated him. His irritatingly selfless nature only I could see through.

Why did we have to be separated? We promised. We promised to run the circus together, as travelers, after I graduated. We promised to always be together.

The pain welled up inside me, escaping through my eyes as tears. Questions, complaints, whines and cries of the unfairness of the world plagued my heart all night.

As I looked at the morning sun, I came to a sudden realization.

"I don't need this new body," I realized. "Wouldn't it be much easier on me if I just died? Drop down to hell and whatnot-isn't that where I belong now?"

I reached to the IV drip on my arm. It was the only sharp thing near me now. It was easy-I just needed to plunge the needle at my throat. I'll definitely die with that.

 _It's easy._

But as the needle brushed against the skin of my throat, I felt my hands trembling. I found myself shivering-in fear.

 _Why?_

 **Thanatophobia, the fear of death.**

 _Why?_

 **Thanatophobia, the fear of death.**

 _Shut up. I'm not thanatophobic. I'm not._

 **Thanatophobia, the fear of death.**

I threw the IV Drip aside burying my head in my pillow, pulling the covers over my as I wailed.

 _Please, just let me die._

 _Let me end it all._

* * *

 _Oh,_ I thought.

 _even if I don't do anything, I'll die anyways._

I just have to wait.


	7. Please

_**7\. Please**_

 **I can hear this song coming to me.  
All of you who have nowhere to go,  
Hope is in your hearts.  
When you overcome the night of sadness,  
I am sure you will come out  
Holding the strength to live on.**

 **(The Everlasting Guilty Crown -Egoist)**

* * *

"Rei-chan?"

I didn't answer. I stayed with my face turned away from her, my eyes closed-I pretended to be asleep. Acting like I didn't hear her, I remained silent.

"Hey, Rei-chan," Sae spoke up-was it so obvious I was awake? "I got a 100 on my test today! I placed first in my class and year!" she cheered, trying hard to sound happy. She did sound happy, but there was a vague strain in her voice.

I shuffled, getting into a more comfortable position. I didn't open my eyes-I ignored her as I pretended to still be in deep sleep.

"Rei-chan?"

* * *

"Rei, we've got tonsa homework!" Yamamoto Takeshi whined, slumping against my bed as he rested his face on his crossed arms.

I didn't respond. I just stared at him boredly, not even thinking of how to respond. He noticed, and looked up.

"You okay, Rei?"

I pulled my knees to my chest, resting my hand on them, then my chin. I looked at him, wondering if I should answer that question. Instead, I asked him, "Hey, Takeshi, what would you do if one day you realize your whole life has been a lie?"

He seemed taken aback at the suddenness of the question. He stared back at me for a while-with a face like _huh?_ -then chuckled.

His signature laugh, which seems a different form of familiar now-now, I recognize it as the laugh of Yamamoto Takeshi, an anime character; instead of the laugh of an annoying childhood friend-and I felt that loss physically, a form of pain I couldn't describe.

"Well," he slouched against the hospital bed, "I don't really understand, but does it really matter? I mean, we complain about having mountains of homework, but we still finish it before class the next day because we don't wanna get scolded."

"I really don't see the correlation," I couldn't resist saying.

"I guess." he laughed in response.

I sighed. Asking this guy was pointless-he's too happy-go-lucky. Or even, what was I even expecting. That question was way too vague. Humans aren't mind-readers.

"Rei," I turned to Takeshi as he suddenly spoke up, "Get well soon, kay?"

I bit my lip.

 _I don't want to._

But he was giving me that face. A face that was unusual to see even in the anime-a stern, sad look that showed only concern and worry, no hint of his trademark grin.

I swallowed my negativity and nodded.

"Okay."

* * *

I stood up. No one was around right now-it was the dead of the night, but I was awake. I could seem to get myself to close my eyes today-I was feeling restless.

I want to go back to my world, I thought. A place I could express myself fully as the sporty one of three local clowns. A place where I could be as free as I could, doing whatever I wanted and being wherever I wanted.

 ** _And what did that bring you? A stupid death._**

My fists clenched at the passing thought. _Shut up,_ I reminded myself. _I loved that world._ I'm not a reality-escaping gamer or NEET. I'm perfectly fine being a real-lifer, thank you very much.

What can I do in this world? This world has a set path it has to take. I shouldn't meddle with it-I'd rather not, honestly.

 _Your life would be living Dante's Inferno, I tell ya._

Void. That dark space. He's the one that sent me here. He said something about me being one that would have rathered stay dead instead of revenge or passing on?

He may not have been far off. Right now, I feel no burning desire for revenge. I admit I want to hunt down those people that killed me, despite knowing it's pointless. But in all honesty, I just want to see my brothers again.

Screw revenge. Screw reincarnation. I just want to go back to my old life. Am I acting childish by being so homesick? I want to go home.

I want to live as Drew Cite again.

 ** _But what about Ninomiya Rei?_**

* * *

Sae and Sui didn't stop showing up at the hospital. They showed up every time, each time with a smile more strained than before.

Sae brought news of their day and wishes of an early release, all which I'd responded with a fake smile. Each time she saw my fake smile, she seemed to know it wasn't real. her face would fall and she'd become disappointed, then bounce back up, trying not to cry as she pretended to be her chirpy, happy self.

Sui, on the other hand, seemed more and more reluctant to come visit. She never smiled once, always sitting by the side and waiting for time to pass, not once looking at me nor speaking up. It was as if she knew exactly what I thought of them now- _mildly tiring to deal with_ -and was trying to respond to those thoughts.

And they're five, as hard as I try to believe. They're sharp. Or maybe I'm just so readable.

As the twins left to buy some drinks, the phone rang. Mama Lula's phone, which she had left by me in case Ninomiya Yuuichirou, the father of the Ninomiya household, called. I had been tasked to receive the call. As per habit, I picked it up quickly.

"Hello?" I spoke first.

 **Rei, is that you? Are you alright? I heard you had an attack, I'm so sorry I wasn't able to call sooner. Look I'm headed back right now. How're the kids now?**

His bombardment of question left me a little stunned. Realizing the silent was for my answer, I panicked. What should I say? What would Ninomiya Rei say? "I'm fine, dad." I told him. However, my train of thought stopped right there.

 _I'm fine? Like hell you are._

"It wasn't anything bad, really." I laughed dryly, "The doctor told me everything I needed to know so-"

 **Rei.**

I stopped. I could feel tears falling down my cheeks. _Huh? Why? I don't even-why am I-_

 **What happened?**

"Nothing, dad! Nothing happened!" I tried to sound happy, but my voice cracked and I sniffled, obviously crying. I desperately wiped them off with my sleeve, trying my best to stop crying-of all times to cry, this is a really weird time to cry, Drew.

To my surprise, the door suddenly opened.

And at the door stood a man. He donned an expensive looking suit, wore glasses, and had his hair slicked to the back-this man was, although slightly different and vague in my memories, Ninomiya Yuuichirou.

By his ear was his mobile phone, and he clicked the end call button before tucking it away into his pocket. Despite the scary disciplinarian face and expression he held, he rushed over to me and gave me a hug.

His chest was broad. Warm. His arms wrapped my whole body easily and held me firmly, leaving no space to escape-but I really didn't feel like escaping. This was a warmth I couldn't feel in my past life.

The warmth of a father.

And that day, I wept. I wailed, sobbed, cried for what seemed like an eternity, letting loose all I could and everything I felt into my father's embrace.

Today, I can be as much of a baby as I want. Today, Drew Cite will mourn. She will grieve about everything she lost. Today, she will lament of her own death. Today, she will spend her last day as the crybaby she always was.

But tomorrow, Ninomiya Rei will take over. Ninomiya Rei will live on, not as a ghost of the past, but as a boy that looks toward the future. Tomorrow, **he** will live on, with as much joy as possible-he will live his own life.

Tomorrow, Drew Cite no longer exists.

Tomorrow, I'll be Ninomiya Rei.

* * *

"I'm home!" I called, raising my arms, stretching my limbs. I felt elated-one whole week cooped up in a hospital was so boring! I felt so elated stepping foot back home.

Sae and Sui rush out to greet me, leaping into a 'welcome-back' hug while screaming inaudible words I assumed were 'welcome back's. Taken by surprise, I lose my balance and drop on my back, unable to suddenly support the extra weight.

We laugh.

"Kids, mind helping me with all this stuff?" Dad called over signalling to mine and his luggage that was in the car.

"Yeeess!" Sae responded cheerfully, dashing over. Sui followed obediently, and I was left on the ground, forgotten. I sit up, smiling at them as Sae tried to carry a luggage two times her size. Dad shrieked worriedly as she staggered as if she was going to be crushed.

Dad was going to stay with us from now on, apparently. He was worried that next time I get an attack he wouldn't be in a position to come back ASAP, so he decided to take a temporary leave-in which he told his boss he would either work from home or go over there during emergencies.

(By the way, his work place isn't fixed. The office is somewhere in Italy or something, but his work includes traveling to other countries so he's rarely in Italy anyways, he says.)

I'd told him that he didn't have to come over next time I get an attack, (in which he responded with the face of a puppy that's just been told to stay at home and watch the house, so I had to shut up and let him do what he wanted because THOSE EYES)

I flip the mailbox open, to see a few envelopes unread from the week I was away. Most were addressed to Dad, so they were probably work-related or bills-I don't know, I never look at them. Another was for Mama Lula, but the last one was addressed to me.

It was a small parcel.

I took the mail inside the house. I tossed the ones that weren't for me on the living room table, settling down on the sofa to open mine.

It contained a small box-it was the kind that jewellery shops put whatever you bought in-it wasn't very fancy, but it just gave me a weird feeling. Why would I get something like this? The box was completely black and had no other design; the exterior of the box was made of felt cloth-what's with this high quality product...

There was a letter behind the box, and I decided to read it first.

 _I thought you might want this back_

...It said. All I could think in response was that the words were handwritten in amazingly pretty handwriting. Nothing else came to mind-the writer, the sender, the contents of the box...I had no idea.

Hesitantly, I picked up the box and lifted the lid.

And inside were two hairpins-two bobby pins that was each adorned with different coloured gems. One was a red gem, the other was a blue gem.

I couldn't help but laugh.

"Why is Void being such a nice guy?" I wondered out loud.


	8. Timeskip

**8\. Timeskip**

 _ **RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINGGGGG**_

My arm emerged from under the blankets and searched for the alarm clock on my bedside table. I pressed the button, then I dragged myself up from the bed.

It was morning, I get it. But does this alarm clock have to ring like the apocalypse every day? I stretched, yawned, and tried not to fall back asleep.

I walked towards the mirror-my hair was in a gravity-defying mess, and there were bags under my eyes from lack of sleep-oh well, whatever.

I'll go wash my face.

The door suddenly opened-there was no knock or anything, it just opened-and a girl came dashing in, making a sharp turn then pouncing at me.

"Eh-"

I ended up losing my balance and falling to the floor. The girl was fully dressed in her school uniform, although her long black hair was left untied.

"Rei-chan fell for it again!" my dear little sister Sae laughs again, lying on her stomach comfortably, on top of me.

"Sae, Rei-chan's gonna die one day because of this, y'know." I say, trying to recover from hitting my head on the carpet. I chuckled lightly.

"Noope! Rei-chan's immortal, after all!" she insisted.

Another girl peeked in from the door. She was in the same state as me-bedhead and half-asleep-so she didn't pounce on me like her sister. "Sae, breakfast." she simply said.

Sae jumped up, "Oops! I'm on duty!" and she disappeared downstairs.

I sat up, sighing. "Good morning, Sui." I greeted, noticing Sui was still standing at the door. I stood up, ruffling my hair so it at least obeyed the laws of gravity.

Sui smiled, stepping into a hug. "Good morning, Rei." she said softly.

* * *

I fixed my tie, looking into the mirror one last time. My bangs were long enough to cover one eye, so I usually brushed them aside and clipped them up. Picking up my precious hair clips from the little box I first received them in, I pinned my hair up.

I grabbed my school bag and headed downstairs.

"Breakfast?" I ask, turning into the kitchen.

"Egg on toast," Sae said, "cause there's nothing in the fridge."

I spotted Dad dead (not literally) on the sofa. I chuckle lightly-he got called over to Tokyo late last night so he probably got back early in the morning. Sui, who had already finished breakfast was putting a blanket over him and a cup of water on the table.

I gobbled up my food in about five bites. Sae washed the dishes as I began fixing Sui's hair. As usual, these two didn't like anyone else doing up their hair.

I pulled the top half of Sui's hair back into a half ponytail, tying it up with a blue ribbon; then I tied Sae's hair into a high ponytail and finished it with a red ribbon.

We slipped on our shoes and headed out. We usually cycled to school-ahem, I was the only one cycling-I placed my bag in the basket at the front (Sae and Sui held their own bags). I sat on the rider's seat while Sae stood behind me, stepping on tiny footholds and resting her arms on my shoulders while Sui sat on the back seat, facing backwards.

"Go go, Rei-chan taxi!" Sae declared.

"Destination, ma'ams?" I asked jokingly, kicking up the bicycle stand and starting to cycle.

"Namimori Elementary!" Sae and Sui replied in unison.

* * *

We reached the school in a minute or so, the two jumping off and waving at me with 'I'm offs' and 'see ya after school's. I waved back with a 'have fun' and began the rest of my journey to the Junior High.

I jumped off my bicycle right before the school gate and pushed my bicycle the rest of the way in, parking my bicycle at the designated spots and heading into the school gates.

Life was mundane like this. Nothing beats peace. Now, I'm thirteen, (or twelve because my birthday hasn't gone by yet), and I'm on my first year in junior high. And this was in no way a good sign.

I'm nearing the timeline where the anime starts, and I still have no idea what I should do in those times. Should I try to make myself a part of the cast? I mean, that sounds fun and all, but at the same time it's quite a bore. Maybe I should. Should I? Should I not?

In the seven years that went by, I realize that I still had the abilities and skills my previous life had-I still had my athletic abilities and flexibility, the only difference being I had a lung condition that I didn't know when would act up.

I'd take up learning more things as well-after all, this is a new life, why don't I make a difference? I recalled Zen's tricks and trained to do them-they were cool, don't blame me-and pretty much mastered a good portion of it.

"Rei, duck to your left!" this was Takeshi's voice. Obeying his commands without hesitation, I swerved to the left quickly, dodging a baseball that was flying at me. Walking to pick it up, I breathed out, relieved slightly at that last minute warning. "Sorry bout that!" Takehi was right behind me now, his signature laugh trying to sound friendly.

I turned around, killing intent targeted at him. _Look, Drew Cite was trained to do sudden movements in the spur of moments because of the trapeze and other stuff, but Ninomiya Rei would've died at that, you baseball idiot!_

 ** _(I held it back. I wanted to yell at him, but I can't.)_**

He smiled on, unaffected. I sighed and returned him the baseball. _I think I understand how Gokudera feels about this Baseball Idiot now._

"Morning, Takeshi." I greeted, bringing a smile to my face.

"Mornin', Rei!" he greeted back.

* * *

"Ninomiya Rei!" I heard a teacher yell at probably me. I groaned, picking my head off the table, yawning. "No sleeping!" he warns me.

"Sir, humans are not able to live without sleep, and I am definitely a human. Thus, I have the right to sleep." I mumble blurrily, already starting to nod off.

"Not during class!" he yelled.

I yawn and sat up properly, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, deciding to at least pretend to listen to him. Satisfied, he went back to teaching.

My eyes drifted towards my classmates in Class 1-A. My seat was right by the door, on the first row. Takeshi sat the the corner furthest from mine, while Sawada Tsunayoshi sat two seats diagonally away from me. Sasagawa Kyoko and Kurokawa were only a few seat away as well.

When exactly did the anime start? Soon? Perhaps a few months later? Today? Probably not today... I chewed on the back of my pen-a bad habit from my previous life-as I thought through possibilities. What should I do when the time comes?

* * *

I shuffled the cards quickly and masterfully, flicking the cards from one hand to another, and finally, I fixed the alignment of the deck on the table. The girl before me took the first card on the deck at my request, and to everyone's awe, it was the card she had picked.

I smiled Eve's signature smile-the coy, mildly mischievous smirk that was only meant to trick the audience, but held a certain genuineness that little people could discern.

"How did you do that?" the girl asked me, really interested.

 _"How did you do that?" a five-year-old Drew asked in excited curiosity, her eyes sparkling in interest.  
_

 _Zen stares back, sweatdropping. He gave little Drew a light chuckle, putting a finger to his lips. "It's a Magician's Secret." he told his little sister._

I gave the girl a light chuckle, putting a finger to my lips. "It's a Magician's Secret." I told the girl.

* * *

"Kunomasu-sensei," I called as I stepped into the infirmary, "Lemme skip class."

The infirmary was empty.

 _Huh?_

I heard light snoring from the beds. I stpeped towards the sound and pushed the curtains aside-"Kuma-sensei, the nurse isn't supposed to sleep in the infirmary."

"I slept at seven this morning please let me stay dead for until school ends" he groaned like a dead sloth, his words slurring and his lines having no punctuation.

"Do your freaking job!"

His next response was a string of inaudible whines in the language of bears, I think. I ignored him, drawing the curtains and settling on the other bed, closing my eyes and hoping for some shut-eye.

* * *

"We're home, Papa!" Sae and Sui greeted energetically, kicking off theiir shoes and spinning into the kitchen where Dad was cooking.

Dad wore an apron and was fixing up soup for dinner-why is he dress like a single young daddy-he put down the ladle and turned around when he heard the girls, patting them both on the head.

"Welcome home, girls," he greeted, then turned to me. "Welcome home, Rei."

I smiled a little. All the worry I had in the morning seemed to dissipate at the sight of this happy family.

"I'm home, Dad."


	9. Begin!

**9\. Begin!**

"And camera- Action!" I say into the camera.

The lights came on and showed Sae, who had on a top hat with a bright red ribbon tied into a big bow at the rim. She already had clown makeup on, her face powdered white and her eyes lined with gold and shadowed with magenta. A red heart was drawn under her right eye, a black diamond under the other eye.

She smiled, "Eins!"

Sui walked into view, putting on a top hat with a big blue ribbon tied to it, in a similar fashion to Sae's. Her face was, like Sae's, white, her eyes lined with gold and shadowed with a shade of mystic blue. A blue spade was drawn under her left eye, a black diamond drawn under the right.

Stoically, she raised her fingers in a V. "Zwei," she said.

My top hat was a dark green. It looked exactly like the one I had in my previous life. I wore it a little slanted back, the part of my fringe pinned down by my hairclips. My eyes were lined with gold and shadowed with green- a green clover was drawn under my left eye, a black diamond under my right.

"Drei!" I declared.

A surge of pink smoke burst forth, clouding the camera's screen and filling the view with a pink misty clump of fog. The smokescreen quickly dissipated, revealing a suited figure sitting down on the bed, her legs dangling off the edge, her red-and-white striped socks stnading out among the light beige sheets.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" she giggled, raising her right arm to the sky, a bright, beaming smile on her face.

"Welcome once again," Sui joined her sister on the bed, leaning in close, her blue attire a mirror to her sisters', her expressions stuck in a poker face. "To the night of glory days?" she made the last part sound adorably like a question.

Holding in a chuckle, I stroll in. I stood in front of the bed, the girls parting so I'd be standing in between the two of them. I smile, putting a finger to my lips.

"We hope you enjoy your stay."

 **My name is Ninomiya Rei. I work part-time as a Magician that give live shows on the internet. I have two assistants that are actually my sisters, and a behind-the-scenes makeup artist that is actually my dad.**

* * *

"Eh? What're you doing here, Ninomiya?" Kunomasu-sensei asked, sucking on a lollipop.

"It's PE," I mumble, "I'm banned from this class because of you, remember?"

Kuma-sensei gave a look of _ohhhh_ before turning back to the book on the table. "Help yourself to a nap, then."

I sighed. Two years ago, Kuma-sensei had taken the effort to post an official rule to the schools in Namimori, namely Namimori Elementary, Namimori Junior High and Namimori High.

And the rule was simple: Ninomiya Rei is NOT ALLOWED to participate in Physical Education classes.

And apparently Kuma-sensei was a more influential person than I thought, because _wow_ , I've been treated as a plague in PE since then.

 _Damn you, Kuma._

I plopped onto the bed and drew the curtains, pulling the covers over myself and shutting my eyes.

I heard the class is playing basketball today. Sounds fun. It's been forever since I touched a basketball.

Basketball? Wait a minute I'm remembering something. Something about a basketball match. I think it's important.

After minutes of being unable to remember, I gave up. Oh well, guess I'll find out sooner or later.

Ahh, I wish I could run with Takeshi again some day. Our races ended in a draw.

The first thing that happens to him in the anime... He breaks his arm during practice, I think... Wait, wasn't there something before that?

I quickly sat up.

 _A basketball match!_

The story has already begun. Reborn was right around the corner somewhere, and soon Tsuna would be dashing around in his boxers every day. I'm so stupid! It started while I was worrying about when it'd start! Now what?

...I dropped back onto the bed and closed my eyes.

Guess I'll just worry about it later.

* * *

"Hey, Rei! Wake up!" Takeshi calls, leaning over my face from the side of the bed, "Rise and shine!"

I bolted upwards.

My head in a mess, I looked around, confused. Like, huh? Wait, what? This isn't my room. This is the infirmary. Takeshi? Isn't he supposed to be in class- huh? Wait? What-?

"School's over, y'know?" he said.

I froze.

"Kuma-sensei!" I snapped.

"Well, you were sleeping adorably there." Kuma said, eating a new lollipop now. He absent-mindedly lifted his pen from his work for a brief response before proceeding back to who-knows-what, "As a nurse and a doctor, I thought you sleeping was a healthier choice-"

"Don't play the doctor act now!" I growled, turning to the clock, "Ahhh! Look at the time! I'm gonna be late!"

"Late?" Kuma questioned.

"Oh, for Sae and Sui?" Takeshi said, "I grabbed your bag for ya."

Snatching it from his hand, I jumped up from the bed and spun out of the room. "Thanks, Takeshi!" I said, "See ya tomorrow!"

"Good luck!" Takeshi bid.

"Have fun- Wait, don't run!" Kuma-sensei got up, calling after me.

* * *

It's tomorrow, I thought. Tomorrow is where all the Mafia business begins. KHR being a pretty complete anime in itself, there's really not much I can do here without undermining the main characters.

It's a little late, but what about Flames? Learning flames at this point is quite...pointless, honestly, because boxes only come by in the Future. Well, I'll learn Flames someday.

But for now... Hm, Daily Life Arc, huh. Not very keen about it. I mean, most of it's just an episodic mess of Tsuna running around in boxers. I can't really complain, KHR started off as a gag manga.

I couldn't do sports, so I've been busying myself with my Clown thing and secret training to maintain my physical stature, but now that Mafia's coming in should I change my daily routine?

Really, why am I still worrying about this? It probably isn't my choice if I get involved in the Mafia or not. I mean, who know what can catch the attention of our dear hitman tutor Reborn?

"Rei-chaan!" I hear Sae call out. "You're late!"

"Rei-chan," was all Sui said.

I sigh.

"Sorry I'm late. Let's go home."


	10. Reborn!

**10\. Reborn!**

Katekyo Hitman Reborn is a strange world. We have babies wearing weird, baby-sized intricate suits. We have bullets that don't exactly send you to the afterlife. We have fire that doesn't burn. We have a main character's house that doesn't collapse after all those explosions.

In the midst of all that craziness, you have me, someone that reincarnated into another world. Other than that, I'm just a dying kid that can do fake magic. But Reborn doesn't know that.

"Ciaossu." he greets me.

Let me rephrase that scene.

The one and only Greatest Hitman Reborn is walking along the walls. The girls were taken to school by Dad, so I was free today and walked to school. I turn the corner and- well, chance upon the super baby and our main character.

I look up at the child walking on a spot higher than my line of sight, and I smile. "Good morning," I greet back.

He doesn't know me and I don't know him. That's how it is now. Our relationship is of passerby and passerby, not with fangirl and anime character.

"That's a cool outfit." I commented. "Are you supposed to be a businessman?" I asked.

He bowed his head lightly, as if in thanks for the compliment. "I'm a Hitman." he said.

"Cool," I chuckle. "Have fun with that, then."

Meanwhile, Sawada Tsunayoshi had an awkward expression on his face- he didn't really know what to do when he was being ignored by me. I chuckle.

"Good morrning, Sawada-san." I greet.

He panics. "OH-" he fumbles, "U-Uh, G-Good morning... Ni-ninomiya-kun..."

"Just call me Rei," I try, "I have a pretty wide family, so calling me by family name's a little vague."

"Eh- Then, Rei-san..."

Oh, good chance! I thought, I can become friends with the main character! I smile. "Can I call you Tsunayoshi-kun?" I ask.

"Eh-EH?! Tsuna's fine!"

"Then, Tsuna-kun."

"Eh-"

"Then, I'll see you at school, Tsuna-kun!"

I waved at him and continued on my way to school. I kept my posture stable and my face unfazed, a motion I was able to do with my acting skills. Because seriously, I was on the verge of laughing out loud and screaming at the nervousness of it all. I hope it wasn't on my face. Reborn can read minds.

What should I refer to Reborn as? Boy? infant? (Nah, that's Hibari's.) Reborn? Reborn-san? -chan? -kun?

But okay, I made friends with Tsuna. That's a nice start. It's really fun to be in a world when you know what's gonna happen. It's like being a god... a god of knowledge. It's like I have an all-seeing eye. I can see the future. It's cool.

I bump into someone. Anime cliche, and I get it. Seriously. I fall backwards, but a hand grabs mine before I hit the floor.

"WOAH!" the voice was a loud one, "I'm extremely sorry!"

Okay, I recognize that catchphrase. I look up to see a boy with awhite hair and bandages over his hands. A band aid was on his nose and he looked right at me with a stern, worried face.

He helped me regain my footing. "You extremely alright?" he asked.

"Yeah," I respond with a smile, "Sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going."

"Well, be extremely careful!" he says, pumping a fist, his feet still moving on spot to keep his body warm, "Well then, bye!"

I wave back.

Well, a lot of things are happening today.

* * *

Lunctime, at the roof, I was practicing with my cards. Shuffling them, springing them from one hand to another, flipping them around, throwing them, stacking a card castle. I was alone, up on the roof, with only the sounds of cards clapping.

Then someone jumped down from the top of the roof's cabin.

My card castle fell. Despairing for half a second, I look up.

The oh-so familiar black-haired prefect seemed half-amused, half-irritated. "What are you doing up here, herbivore?" he asks.

I stopped. My brain functions crashed. What do I answer? If I give a wrong answer, will I die? Will he attack me? I don't think he cares about my health condition. Am I doing something wrong? He seems irritated. It's not classtime yet right? The bell hasn't rung yet.

"What about you, Hibari-senpai?" I ask back.

He tutted. Yep, that was a bad move. But no turning back now. I kept my smile stale on my face, trying not to show any signs of weakness- or being a herbivore.

"Answer my question, herbivore," he demands, obviously pissed now.

I raise my hands in a mock-surrender, "Playing with cards!" I grin, "There's still time before class begins, and I'm not crowding," I said defensively, "Wanna join me?"

And so he attacked. I quickly swerved to the side to avoid a metal rod hitting my face. I staggered to get up and distanced myself. Both tonfas were out now, and a battle stance ensued.

I held out my hands defensively in front of my face, "Woah woah wait! Hibari-san-senpai!"

"I'll bite you to death!"

* * *

"Hi there, Ninomiya-" Kuma-sensei began a greeting, but couldn't finish it because his mouth stayed hanging. "NINOMIYA?"

I sighed. Cuts and bruises littered over my body and one in particular at my face was lightly bleeding. "Yes, I'm sorry." I said.

"Bed, NOW!" he yelled.

I had to bolt to the bed.

"Jesus christ, did you get into a fight with a cat or something? This scratch! How did you get this one!" Kuma-sensei was furiously caring about me, I think, "I swear to god, I didn't ban you from PE so you could do this!"

I winced at the sting of the rubbing alcohol.

"I didn't get into a fight..." I tried, "A skylark attacked me."

"Huh?" Kuma had to take a moment, "But no excuses! No more wounds from you, you hear?"

"Yessir, Kuma."

* * *

I sighed. School was finally over and I could finally head home. Takeshi had practice after school and Dad was picking up Sae and Sui so I had to walk home, alone, for the first time in a while.

It was boring. And that bruise on my arm hurts. All these bandages are kinda exaggerating, too. I'll take them off when I get home.

I sighed again- and was synchronously met with another sigh right beside me. I looked over to see Tsuna. He seemed to be surprised too.

We spent a short moment gaping at each other, then we laughed.


	11. Smile

**11\. Smile**

"Kay, you're set. You may leave." Kuma tells me, waving me off from my monthly checkup.

I grumble a soft 'yeah' in response. I hated checkups and I hate hospitals, but Kuma has to make an attempt to have the infirmary seem just as suffocating as those white, white, white buildings! I don't need checkups! I'm not dying! Yet.

Muttering angrily under my breath, I stomp back to class. Homeroom hadn't even begun yet, and I'm already having an annoying day. Great.

Today was the day another main character makes his appearance. I sigh, and I open the door to the classroom, forcing my lips to curl upwards.

"I'm baaack!" I smile.

"Welcome back, Rei!" Takeshi greets me back with a smile mirroring mine, "How was it?"

I made an OK with my fingers, "What are you talking about? Rei-chan's absolutely immortal!"

* * *

"So we have a transfer student from Italy, Gokudera Hayato." the teacher introduced promptly, receiving swoons from the girls in class.

Gokudera Hayato was a typical bad-boy type. He had the looks to be a hottie, and as a former girl, I could acknowledge that Gokudera was definitely eye candy.

His permanent scowl was locked in one spot-I didn't even have to follow his gaze to know who he was glaring at. Tsuna visibly flinched as he noticed as well that the transfer student was staring straight at him.

Marching over, ignoring the teacher, Gokudera kicked Tsuna's table hard, earning a sharp yelp in surprise from the wannabe Mafia Don.

I unintentionally licked my lips.

It's begun.

* * *

It was now lunch break, and Gokudera was one of the first to leave the classroom. No fangirls managed to land their hands on him, and he vanished from the school building. No one knew where he went.

Except me. Me. Waving myself off from Takeshi's invite for lunch, I went around the school grounds.

It was in a courtyard-like area... behind the school? Somewhere people don't usually go by so... Just then, I spotted the silver-haired bomber right around the corner.

 _Bingo._

I slapped myself and put on a smile, walking over.

He was lighting up a cigarette, blowing out nicotine fumes. He seemed to be thinking, annoyed at something perhaps, but was keeping his composure.

"Heya," I greeted.

He spun around warily, a surprised expression on his face quickly wiping itself away as he realized I wasn't an enemy.

"Who the hell are you?" but he wasn't letting his guard down any further. Someone who can sneak up on an experienced Mafioso is dangerous, after all.

"I'm Ninomiya Rei." I pointed at myself casually, "I'm in your class."

He tutted, uninterested. "Go somewhere else," he spat.

I chuckle and take another step closer. He flinched away at the sudden invasion of personal space- and just then, I snatched the cigarette from his mouth.

"Wha-" he was visibly surprised, growing wary enough now to reach into his shirt pockets for his dynamite and a new cig. "Who are you!" he demanded angrily.

I whistled. "Woah, woah, chill." I say, "I'm just, you could say..." I pondered, extinguishing the cigarette, "I'm a passing magician that thinks you shouldn't be smoking on school grounds." I settled with that.

He wasn't happy with the description. "Are you an enemy?"

 _Oh_ , I stopped, _I shouldn't show any signs of knowing the Mafia here, should I?_

"Enemy?" I ask, "What kinda enemy? I'm just worried for my health and yours." I say, "I have a weak lung, after all." I explain briefly, "but I'm an enemy of smokers, that's for sure."

He probably felt mocked, his glare not easing as he settled on the fact that I probably wasn't gonna attack him physically. The suspicion of me being Mafia wasn't diminished, so he kept his eye on me and kept the cig and dynamites.

 _Tsuna's coming anytime soon,_ I thought. I raised a hand in a wave.

"That's all. Hope we get along, Gokudera-san."

* * *

I walked back into the school building, and the next corner in, I staggered and fell against the wall. I coughed. And coughed. And coughed. When I stopped, I took a gulp of water at the water fountain. I took a deep breath, wiping my mouth at the edge of my sleeve.

 _Strange, am I getting sick?_

"Rei!"

I flinched at the sudden call. I spun around to see Takeshi, who had on his trademark grin- but it didn't reach his eyes. He was looking at me a little worriedly, perhaps. A trace of concern, barely noticeable, was in his eyes.

"You alright? You look kinda pale."

I nod, forcing out a smile. "I'm okay!" I say, because- I seriously am. But Takeshi definitely wasn't buying this. It was worrisome. It was impossible to be fine around Takeshi. Honestly, it wasn't the time for this lung business with me...

"I don't trust you." Takeshi eyed me skeptically.

I sweeatdrop. "Please trust me." Seriously, this guy is serious at the weirdest times. I sigh. My smile grew less strained as I let out a light chuckle. "I'll go the the infirmary, okay?" I try.

At that, Takeshi seemed the least bit satisfied. "I'll walk you." he offered.

"Eh?" I say, "You don't have to..."

"It's alright! I get to skip class anyways!"

"If you say so, then..."


	12. Skylark

**12\. Skylark**

I lay down on the roof, my eyes closed, catching some sleep. I was alone up here, skipping class. I pulled an all-nighter last night on my live show, so I guess some shut-eye is okay...

"Herbivore."

Ah, I forgot about him. How could I forget about him? I forced an eye open, looking up at the black-haired prefect. "Hi, Hibari-senpai, could you give me a moment?"

No, Hibari-sama had no moments to give.

I rolled over in time to dodge a tonfa. Gods, I'm glad for the exercise, but I'm not in the mood for this! A tonfa came at me from the right, and I took a step back, then swerved aside and away from the next swing.

The next tonfa came from above- and my hands moved on instinct. A light push to Hibari's wrist sent the hand recoiling backwards. Hibari was surprised for only a moment before a tonfa came butting at my stomach. I cringed for a moment before I had to get up to dodge the next tonfa.

The fight went on. And on- I wasn't exactly hating it- but I wasn't exactly enjoying it. I was sucked into the flow of the battle, absorbed in the exchanging of blows. Then at one point, I just forgot.

I forgot who I was, where I was and who I was fighting. At that point, I was just a fighter sparring with an enemy at the cost of my life.

I thought back to that one moment.

That moment I- That moment **she** was weak. That moment she was too powerless to protect herself. That moment she just up and was defeated in mere seconds. That moment that led to her death.

And a swell of anger rose in the pits of my stomach.

My hand slipped past his wrist to his forearm, gripping it tightly. The other hand moved under his elbow and in one swift motion, I threw him overhead and sent him flying in a self-improvised judo-flip.

I breathed out, then in, and out. I was catching my breath. Adrenaline was soothing out.

Then I realized what I'd done.

I quickly let go, proceeding into a dogeza position with my head on the floor. "I'm sorry, Hibari-senpai!" I apologize quickly, hoping I'd be spared from imminent death.

When I peeked up, Hibari was sighing. He was sitting up now, resting an arm on a lifted knee. He eyed me amusingly for a long moment, before letting out an uncharacteristical smirk.

Ohhh no.

I clasped my hands together in time to catch a tonfa aimed at the middle of my head.

This fight isn't ending anytime soon, is it?

* * *

"Ninomiya, NO!" Kuma-sensei was enraged enough to snap at me fiercely enough I swear he can he heard in the classrooms. He pointed at the bed, the frown on his face murderous as he cursed under his breath about moronic suicidal freaks.

"I'm sorry." was my simple response, "A Skylark attacked me."

* * *

"What happened to you, Take?" I asked.

"Hm?" he seemed confused at the question, "what do you mean?"

He was visibly disturbed by something. He's had something on his mind the whole time since he entered the infirmary. I can tell, because I've known him since we were young. His smile was a little more forced than usual, and his conversations doesn't seem to flow.

Really, he was quite easy to read.

"What's on your mind?" I ask, a smirk growing on my face as I bop him in the forehead lightly with my fist.

He returned that by messing around with my hair. "Nothing!" and his smile was back. He pushed my head down so I was lying down on the bed again, "You catch some sleep and skip more class. I'm gonna head back to PE."

I chuckle. "Have fun." I say, "Today's basketball, right? I hope you win."

Takeshi pumped his fist, "Oh, I will!" he promised. "Oh, I'll probably be staying late after school today for extra practice, so I won't be walking with ya."

 _No,_ That alerted me. Before I could think any further, I'd jumped up and grabbed his sleeve. That's the flag. Yamamoto staying late after school for extra practice. It's nearly time for that. The Yamamoto suicide episode.

"Hm?" he asked.

I couldn't hold back the scared expression on my face. I was fearful, worried, concerned. I don't know why. I mean, I myself know it'll turn out fine. I know he's gonna survive.

But I just had a really, really bad feeling. I was just really scared. Scared at the thought of my only best friend committing suicide.

I don't want to see it. Even in the anime, this scene never sat well with me. Yamamoto Takeshi, a boy that always smiled- jumping off the building because of failure.

 ** _A bright shining star disappears if it becomes a shooting star._**

Takeshi-suicidal? That was the last thing I would've believed. It seemed almost ridiculous. Before I died the first time, I thought that. But now I know what can break a person. And failure in the eyes of high expectations was one of the many.

My grip reluctantly loosened as I struggled to keep my face straight.

"Oh-Uh- Not.. Nothing. Good luck with practice!" I forced out, the few words costing all my mental strength. I had to hold my breath so I wouldn't burst into a panic attack.

He looked skeptical. He put a hand on my head and rubbed it gently. "Don't worry!" he assured. His smile was normal. bright, sweet Takeshi. "I'll be fine!"

I know he wasn't fine.


	13. Baseball

**13\. Baseball**

"Everyone!" a classmate yelled as he barged into class, "Yamamoto's about to jump off the roof!" he didn't sound like he was pranking at all, and he himself was all panicked and freaking out.

People started off with doubt and calling him out- but it just seemed more and more legitimate, and it didn't take long for everyone to run out of the classroom.

I gulped. Here it is. I gotta go. I stood up, intending on following the crowd, but I staggered. My legs were shaking. Why? I bit my lip, took a deep breath, and put one leg in front of the other.

"C'mon, Tsuna-kun! Rei-kun!" Kyoko called out towards us.

I snapped out of it.

"Yeah, we better hurry!" I say, dashing out ahead of Kyoko.

* * *

"Hey, Yamamoto! This isn't funny!" Someone called out.

"You're taking this too far!" another added.

"Heh," But Yamamoto wasn't joking. He kept his face towards the edge of the building, where one step would end it all for himself and his pathetic life. "Sorry, but it's true. I have nothing left if the baseball god's thrown me away." he spat.

"Excuse me," I tapped at the shoulder of a guy at the back of the crowd, "Would you mind letting me through?" I asked.

"Ni-Ninomiya-san!" he was from my class, I realized. Knowing my relationship with Takeshi, he helped part a way ahead. And I walked to the front, to the gap in between Yamamoto and the crowd.

"Hey there, Takeshi!" I brought a smile to my face, "how's the weather over there?"

Takeshi seemed surprised to see me. "Rei! What are you..." but he paused. It was absolutely obvious why I was there. He could see the anger in my eyes. "I'm jumping. You can't stop me."

I sigh. "Yeah, I'm not planning on stopping you." I admitted. My smile fell. "If you wanna jump, go ahead. You know me, I'm not good with words. I can't think of anything to say that'd convince you out of it."

I earned a few sneers and scorns from the crowd that just told me to go away if I wasn't gonna help.

"I came here to see if you were actually serious." I started, "And well, I think I've gotten my answer."

This caused a dead silence in the crowd.

I turn around, my face falling back into a frown. I don't look back as I leave.

* * *

I coughed into my palm as I make my way into the infirmary. _Something's definitely on with my airway again,_ I think to myself, _I hope it'll go away by itself._

"Kuma-sensei, lemme skip class-" I spoke up, but again, the infirmary was empty. I pulled the curtains, but no one was on the beds either.

Strange. Whatever. I sank down on one bed and closed my eyes, deciding to catch some sleep.

I wasn't in a good mood. The Daily Life Arc was a mundane process, but it was definitely an important part of the whole storyline.

What can Ninomiya Rei do at this point?

* * *

"MID-AIR REBORN!"

The yell was so loud, I snapped right awake. Wait, what? I was still dizzy from sleep, not actually knowing when I fell asleep, and suddenly waking up threw my senses into confusion. What was that? It came from outside...

I looked out the window, and sure enough, a few floors down and on the ground was Tsuna and Takeshi, laughing.

I leaned at the windowsill, sighing in light relief. That's another chapter of the manga, done. I cupped my mouth, forming a makeshift speaker.

"Hey, Takeshi! Tsuna-kun!" I call out, "Was skydiving fun?" I joke.

They look up, surprised. "Rei!" Takeshi's face was locked in a slightly serious and concerned face. "I'm uh-"

I grinned back and stuck my tongue out at him. "Glad you're still alive, moron!"

 _What was I being worried about, I wonder._ I knew he was gonna be fine. The thought of him jumping plagued my mind over and over to the time Drew Cite died. The pain of it all.

I clenched my chest, then I loosened my nerves, breathing out to calm myself.

Takeshi's not gonna die, I told myself. I know everything that's gonna happen to him, and Takeshi doesn't die in the story. He lives.

And yet, I'm still worried. Why?

Could it be that... I'm more implanted into the storyline than I think? Even though I know this world is a fictional one, I still feel real- I feel completely a part of the story now.

I feel as if I'm another character created by Akira Amano-

Yeah, this is my real life now. I shouldn't forget. It's not strange for me to feel actual sympathy and empathy for the _characters_ \- no, for _other people_.

They're people. They're not anime characters.

And Takeshi's my best friend.

* * *

"Are you an idiot?" I reprimanded, "Did you even think about your dad?" I lectured, "Or actually, if you just offed yourself there, who the hell wins our eternal battle? We're stuck at 548 wins, 548 loses and 71 draws!"

Takeshi just chuckled back, "My bad, my bad," he said, accepting the not-so-angry scolding he was receiving.

I sighed. "Well, at least you're back to normal." I smiled and pulled my knees to my chest, "I really can't imagine a life without your annoying laugh."

At that, Takeshi gave me a soft smile. "Sorry if I worried you, Rei." He put a hand on my head and rubbed it gently. "I won't do it again."

And for some reason, that made me blush.

Takeshi laughed.


	14. Family

**14\. Family**

"Ciaossu, Rei." the baby greeted me again, his cute, squeaky voice a nice wake-up call.

Yeah, a wake-up call. I yawned, sitting up on my bed and bringing my legs to the side of the bed. "Good morning, Reborn-san." I greeted him, his name something I learned in a previous chat with Tsuna, "How did you get in?"

"The window was open." Reborn explained. "I heard where you lived from Tsuna." The baby jumped to my shoulder, settling down comfortably there as I began walking around. It was 5 am, but I had to wake up because it was my turn on breakfast duty.

I brushed my hair down to be presentable and clipped up my bangs. Then, I headed out of my room and down the stairs.

"Morning, Rei." came a voice from the next door over. Dad was dressed for work, tying his tie and brushing his teeth at the same time as he rushed like the apocalypse was happening.

"Morning, Dad." I greeted with a light chuckle, "Emergency call?"

"Yeah," he said, "I'll need to make a trip over to Hokkaido. I won't be back tonight." he explained, turning to me and Reborn who was at my shoulder, "That is?" he asked.

"This is Reborn. He's from the Sawada Household down the street." I explained.

"Pardon my intrusion." said Reborn.

"I, uh... see." and he didn't have a question to ask further, "Well, I hope you enjoy your stay."

"Coffee, dad?" I offered.

"Yes, please."

I went down the stairs and into the kitchen, where Reborn jumped off my shoulder and onto the table. He settled down on a chair, and I took that as a sign that he was staying for breakfast.

Rolling up the sleeves of my sweater, I started thinking of the breakfast menu.

* * *

"Morning, Rei-chan." Sui gave her older brother a hug from the back, looking over his arm to the stove, "Breakfast?"

Rei switched off the stove and placed the last omelette on the place, Sui latching onto him the whole time. "Good morning, Sui. Where's Sae?"

"She overslept." Sui responded, settling down on the seat in front of Reborn. She looked at the baby for a long moment, eye-to-eye.

Neither spoke as they seemed to have some sort of telepathic conversation.

Then Sui bowed lightly, still on the chair. "Nice to meet you, I am Sui." she said in her usual zestless voice.

"Same to you. I am Reborn." the baby replied.

Placing down a mug of hot chocolate in front of Sui and hot espresso in front of Reborn, I sighed at the two. That was weird, but I'm glad they're at peace.

Reborn eyed the espresso, an eyebrow raised at me in question. I smiled at him, and for some reason he didn't seem to ask why and how I knew about his preferred drink.

"Good morning!" Sae charged in, her uniform in a mess, "I did not oversleep!"

"Yes, yes," I tell her, placing her mug on her seat, "We'll be late, so eat." I take off my apron and hung it up at the clothes rack, "I'll go get changed, so be ready by the time I get down, alright?"

"Kay!" Sae said, plopping down onto her chair, "Hey, are you Rei-chan's friend? I'm Sae!" I heard her chime cheerfully, "I'm twelve! How old are you?"

I head up to my room.

* * *

I fix my tie as I headed down the stairs in my school uniform. "Sae, Sui, I'll do your hair up now-"

But to my surprise, Sae and Sui were already ready. Their hairs up just the way they liked it, with perfectly straight ribbons. They probably didn't tie it up themselves, did they? They've never gotten a straight ribbon before.

"Reborn-chan's done it for us!" Sae grins, "He's so cool!"

Sui nods timidly in agreement.

I sigh. "Alright then, thanks for that, Reborn-kun." I say. Reborn jumps up to my head as we rush out and onto the bicycle, towards school.

* * *

"You have a good relationship with your family." Reborn finally spoke up after I sent the girls to school. "There's an admirable sense of respect in between siblings and parent."

I smile at that, "Well, every family works differently, don't they?" I say, "I'm sure, Reborn-kun, that you get along with Tsuna-kun in your own unique way."

At that, the Hitman began fiddling with my hair. "You're amusing, Rei." he said.

I got off the bicycle as we reach the school in time. I began pushing my bicycle along, but Reborn stayed on my head.

"I'm not amusing at all, Reborn." I say. The baby raised an eyebrow at the lack of a honorific. I look at him, a smile on my face. "After all, compared to Reborn-kun, I'm not much to look at."

* * *

Let's skip all the way down to after school:

I was walking my bicycle down the road towards Namimori Elementary. It was peaceful, I'd say, because after this we're going grocery shoppping together! It seems girlish or childish, but it was quality family time for me and the girls.

Dad's not coming home, so I'm in charge of dinner tonight. I wonder what I should make? (I sound like a housewife. This is a KHR Fanfiction, right? I'm in the KHR World, right? I'm supposed to be all Mafia, right? Why am I worrying about dinner like a girl? I'm a guy!)

"Would you like one?" I heard a feminine voice in the distance. It was a soothing, mature woman's voice. A pretty voice.

"Really?" and that was Sae's voice. She sounded excited at whatever she was being offered.

I frowned. Wasn't it basic knowledge not to accept things from strangers? I turned the last corner to see Sae and Sui speaking to a woman on a motorcycle.

Bianchi.

She was handing a can of juice to the girls, her face locked in an emotionless poker face as Sae smiles, thanking the woman for her kind offer.

I dropped the bicycle and ran over.

My hand grabbed Bianchi's wrist harshly. "Excuse me," I snapped, a glare on my face, "may I ask what business you might have with my sisters?"

They all seemed surprised at my appearance.

"You misunderstand," Bianchi kept her sly smile on, "I was merely offering these little ladies a drink." she said.

"She's right, Rei-chan!" Sae added, "she was just being nice-"

I sighed and turned back to the pink-haired lady. I leaned in closer so the girls wouldn't hear me, my hand a solid grip at her wrist so Bianchi wouldn't escape before I could speak.

"I don't know what you have in mind for targeting them, but I would appreciate you staying away from my sisters." I whispered sharply at her, "Mark my words, Poison Scorpion,"

Bianchi's eyes widened at the usage of her alias.

"If anything happens to these girls-I **will** have your head." I threatened. I let go of her hand and she eyes me, her gaze growing even more skeptic. She seemed to have more to say, but her mouth did not open.

She drove away on her bike.

I turned back to the girls, an embarrassed smile on my face. "Wanna get ice cream instead?" I suggested, "Seems you're not getting the can."

The girls were both stunned in surprise. I'm not sure how they felt about what I did. Were they confused? Weirded out? Scared? Nevertheless, they didn't question me.

Sui walks up to me and takes my hand, a light nod on her face as she brings a smile up her face.

Sae pouts. "I wanted juice," she whined, then grinned cheekily, "but ice cream sounds great!"


	15. Lambo

**15\. Lambo**

I was doing stretches in my room. Currently in a split, I was writing down ideas for my next live show on my journal.

Then, something just came crashing in through my room window. The object, which happened to be a child with an afro wearing a cow jumpsuit, landed on my bed and started bawling.

"Huh?" was the only thing I could say. By luck, the girls had gone out with Dad to do the groceries, so no one's around to charge up the stairs thinking something bad happened. Glass shards were all over the bed, thankfully, I don't think it burst to anywhere else. Lambo was rolling around the bed crying.

"Wait, that's dangerous!" I realized.

I jumped up and scooped the cow child up from the bed, although he was still crying and bawling with snot, and held him close. Thankfully, he's not struggling.

"Who are you?" he asked me, teary-eyed.

I chuckled, "I'm Rei." I said, "Who are you?" I asked, putting him down on the table and wiped his face with a tissue. "What happened to you?"

"Reborn the bastard," Lambo sniffled, trying not to cry anymore, "Threw my grenade back at me and-" he sniffled again, "I got blown away."

"That sounds terrible," I tell him, sweeping up the larger pieces into the trash bin and gathering the smaller shards with a lint roller, "But thankfully, you seem unharmed." Throwing all the glass away, I turned back to the cow child and brushed his head, giving him a smile.

At that, he stopped crying and grinned widely. "Of course! I'm the Great Lambo-sama, after all!"

Now, I gotta clean up the leftover glass shards from my blanket.

* * *

"And then... tadaa! It's gone!" I said dramatically. I was showing the child some amateur tricks, making a ball appear in my hand and disappear. He was absolutely fascinated, his eyes sparkling with interest as he kept asking me to show him more tricks.

I chuckled. I stood up and reached for the deck of poker cards, reaching for my phone while I was at it. I should take this chance to contact Tsuna about Lambo being in my house...

"Hey, what's this book?" I heard Lambo speak up.

I turn over quickly. _When did he get on the table?_ He was reaching for the books I stack up at the side of my desk, and his hand had landed on one particular journal. A dark green, leather-covered journal. I snatch it away from him instantly.

He looked over, surprised. Oops. Too sudden, maybe.

I forced out a smile. "Sorry, Lambo-kun!" I try, "This book is a secret! Lambo-kun, you have secrets too, right? This is mine." I gave an excuse.

"Oh, I see!" Lambo seemed understanding enough.

"Anyway," I put the book back where it belonged, showing Lambo the deck of cards. "I'll show you something really cool with these cards!"

That got Lambo interested again, and the book was thrown out of his range of interests.

The book, where I'd written down precise details of the KHR World and its happenings. It was basically a fanfiction- no, it was basically an attempt at rewriting the whole anime in novel form. It was a summary of what I could remember from the plot, so I could keep track of the events happening.

If anyone in this world saw it, it'd be trouble.

* * *

"We're home!" Sae declared upon entering.

Lambo at my shoulders, I greeted them back. "Welcome home!" I say, "Perfect timing, I gotta head out for a bit." I say, slipping on my shoes.

"Eh? Where are you headed, Rei?" Dad asked me, "Oh, there's a new kid this time-?"

"Yeah, he's Lambo. I gotta drop him back home." I explained, "And uh, the window in my room broke." I chuckle slightly, "Sorry."

"Huh? Wait, you broke a window?"

"Rei-chan!" Sae's voice came from the kitchen, "Sui's making stew tonight!"

"Beef stew." Sui added.

"Yay!" I cheer slightly. Sui's a great cook. And my favourite of her dishes has to be her beef stew because- it's godly. You wouldn't think a twelve-year-old made it! "I'll make it home in time, I swear." I tell them.

"Huh? Stew? Lambo wants!" the cow child declared excitedly.

"No Lambo, your Maman will get worried!" I reprimand him, "Wouldn't you rather go home to Sawada Maman?"

"Maman...?" Lambo asked me, obviously noticing something off about what I said, "Hey, Rei, How did you know Maman? I never told you I'm from Dame-Tsuna's house."

Urk. Oops, I messed up. I underestimated his intelligence level. _Oh well-_ I thought- _let's just go with the flow_. I simply grinned at the cow child.

"It's a Magician's Secret!" I say.

* * *

"Hey, Lambo, why are you in the Mafia?" I decided to ask him.

"Eh? Rei, you know about the Mafia?" Lambo asked, sucking on the lollipop I just bought him, "How?"

"Well, I just do." I say. "So, why are you in the Mafia, Lambo?"

Lambo, the oblivious child he was, didn't seem bothered at all by the strangeness of the situation. It was nighttime and there were no people around, so I guessed it'd be free of eavesdroppers, too.

"I just am," he responded, "Hey, Rei, are you in the Mafia too?"

 _He just is_. He was born into it, perhaps? I wonder how differently a Mafioso from birth lives. Lambo seemed abnormal enough, carrying grenades and weapons in his hair. I kept a smile on my face the whole time I spoke to him. "I'm not in the Mafia." I say.

"Then, you can be Lambo-san's subordinate!" he declared, "You can work under Lambo-san!"

I chuckle. How adorable. "Sure," I say, "Please take care of me, Lambo-san!"

* * *

I pressed the doorbell on the Sawada Household.

The door was answered by none other than Sawada Nana, who had a smile on her face in surprise. "My, aren't you the son of the Ninomiyas?"

I blushed slightly. Here it is. "I-" I spoke up, "Yes, I'm Ninomiya Rei." I introduced myself, "I'm sorry for interrupting your night, but-"

"Maman!" Lambo jumped out of my arms and towards the woman.

"My, Lambo-kun!" she realized, "Did you bring Lambo-kun home? Thanks so much, Rei-kun!" she walked up to me and took my hands in gratitude, "That's it, why don't you stay for dinner?"

Inside, I saw Tsuna and Bianchi and Reborn, all peeking in at me from where I think the kitchen is. They had dinner prepared, I see.

I shook my head, "I'm really sorry, Sawada-san. My father and sisters are waiting for me at home for dinner." I say. "My apologies, but maybe I'll take up the offer another day." I bowed in apology, "I'm really thankful for the invitation."

"Wow, you're so polite!" Nana seemed flattered, "Then, you better hurry on home, shouldn't you?" she smiled.

* * *

That night, I opened the green journal. I sat down on my chair and flipped through the book, going through each chapter one by one.

There was a page of contents before each 'arc', and the contents listed the chapters one by one, by name and event.

For the 'Daily Life Arc', three titles had been ticked off. **  
**

**Reborn's appearance and Sawada's Confession,  
**

 **Gokudera Hayato,  
**

 **Yamamoto Takeshi's suicide attempt.**

I picked up the pen, and ticked off two more titles.

 **Bovino Lambo.**

 **Poison Scorpion Bianchi.**

And now, according to the book, the next character to appear is- I sighed. There's still a long, long way to go. But at the very least, it's begun.

I closed the book and put it back. The window in my room was sealed temporarily with some clothwork, but a light breeze blew in.

I jumped and reached for the horizontal bar at the ceiling of my room. It was actually a curtain, and it acted as a divider. I lifted myself upwards, doing pull-ups with the pole. It was far enough from the ceiling for me to pull my head above it without hitting the ceiling.

I flipped around and hung on it with my legs as a hook.

I crossed my arms.

"Long way to go."


	16. Fever

**16\. Fever**

PE was a time I got to skip class legally. But this time, I decided I was too lazy to move from the roof. Lunch break just ended and it was currently the class where everyone rushed out to change, and I headed for the infirmary, but I didn't want to move.

I think I overworked myself last night. Sleeping at four wasn't a good idea, after all, especially when you're training the whole night and have to wake up an hour later for breakfast duty.

My body felt heavy. Weak. Hot. The sun wasn't even shining that brightly, but it was blinding me with its rays. My uniform seemed stuffy and sweltering to wear, but my arms wouldn't lift to take my tie off.

I drooped sideways, ending up in a lying position on my side. A gentle breeze blew by, and I shivered at the cold.

Yeah, I'm sick. Definitely sick.

"Herbivore."

I buried my face deeper into my arms. This wasn't good. I don't have the strength to fight the prefect today. I just wanna sleep. A shadow covered the sun from shining down on my face. _Like a cloud,_ I amusingly thought as I opened my eyes weakly.

Hibari was staring down at me, his usual unreadable expression on his face.

"Hibari...-senpai." I mumble. My eyes drop closed again as my breathing eased. I curled up into a tighter ball, unable to handle the coldness of the breeze and the heat of my body temperature- I was sweating, my body confused as to whether it was actually feeling warm or cool. "It's cold..." I mumble under my breath.

I felt myself get lifted. Huh? I opened my eyes to find my head resting on someone's chest. I looked up and-

"Hi-Hibari-senpai?!" I freaked out.

He looked back down at me and tutted. "I can't bite to death a herbivore that's already down." he said, "You belong in the infirmary."

I blushed. I'm being carried- by him- bridal style- Please don't get me wrong, this is probably any girl's dream. But- I'm a guy, am I not? That kind of makes it a little more embarrassing-

And no matter the gender, getting carried like this is embarrassing!

"I-" I spoke up quickly, "I can get there myself!" I say, "You- You can let me down!"

Hibari looked skeptic. He eyed me for a long moment, but ultimately his answer was a simple and final, "No."

 _Eh-_

"I'm bringing you to the infirmary." he said.

 _Huh? Wait- What-_

* * *

The whole trip there, I covered my face with my hands. We passed by quite a few classes, and to be perfectly honest all of them were gawking.

I covered my face- which was bright red in embarrassment- as Hibari Kyouya walked on calmly, unaffected, glaring at crowding herbivores.

No but why? Let me go-

He opened the door with his feet, and he laid me down on a bed. He huffed. "Just this once, you get to skip class," he told me.

I gulped. Mentally slapping myself- _Okay, Rei, go with the flow!_

I chuckle. "Yessir, Hibari-senpai." I gave him a mock salute, still lying down on the bed. "Thanks for getting me here." I say, looking the prefect in the eye, holding up as confident a face I could muster.

This seemed to surprise Hibari, as his eyes slightly widened in surprise. His lips curved upwards in a smile. He put a hand at my forehead- I jolted at the cold hand- and sighed.

"You have a fever. Sleep." he ordered.

"Yes, sir." Pulling the covers over myself, I turn away, pouting.

He sighed once more, and I heard him leave, closing the door behind him. Three seconds later, I pulled the covers over my head and decided to die from embarrassment.

My face was bright, beet red, and my head was screaming.

That was the most embarrassing experience in my life.

Meanwhile, Kuma-sensei who had been hiding at the other bed pushed away the curtains and whistled. "The pureness of youth." he mused.

"Shut up, Kuma!" I snapped.

* * *

"No, seriously, next time, come straight to the infirmary, please." Kuma's voice sounded annoyed, "If it was anything worse, you'd be in trouble. I'd be in trouble, too."

"Haha!" came a gruff voice, "It's just a sprain! I'm absolutely fine!"

Rousing awake, I pulled myself up from the bed, rubbing my eyes. The curtains were closed, but there was definitely something going on in the infirmary. I climbed over to the other edge of the bed and pulled apart the curtains a little-

"Oh, good morning, Ninomiya." Kuma noticed me first.

"Oh, it's Ninomiya!" Sasagawa Ryohei was extremely excited even as he was getting his wrist bandaged, "Extreme good morning!"

"Hm?" I was still groggy, "Oh, good morning..."

"Your bedhair is extreme!" Ryohei laughed.

"Is your fever down?" Kuma left the chair and walked over here, placing a hand at my forehead while the other hand was trying to smoothen out my hair, "Nope, not yet. Back to bed with you."

"Oh, you're sick?" Ryohei was loud as usual, "Get some extreme rest!"

The curtain was pulled close in my face.

I blinked.

Okay, back to sleep then.

* * *

"Ciaossu," was what woke me up the second time.

I groggily pulled myself up, yawning. "Ciaossu," I imitated. I crossed my legs and rubbed my eyes, "What time is it now?" I ask, "Is school over yet?"

"No," Reborn reported to me, "It's a little into the last period." He jumped onto my lap and settled down there as I leaned against the wall.

"So, for what do I owe the pleasure of this meeting, Reborn-kun?" I ask, fixing my bedhair and clipping my hair up properly.

"I just have a little question." Reborn turned to me. His expression were as usual: unreadable, undiscernible. I wonder- was he reading my expressions too?

"A question?" I chuckle, a simple, empty smile on my face. "Please, fire away."

"Then," Reborn's voice sounded cold for a moment. His gaze seemed to grow serious- although it was very faint on his empty features. "How much do you know about the Mafia?"

My smile froze on my face. Then, it just melted away into a resigned, relieved sigh. Standing up with Reborn in my arms, I brushed the curtains aside to walk towards the teacher's desk. I sat on the chair and rolled to the window. No one was outside. Reborn remained silent the whole time, waiting patiently for my response.

What should I reply? I smiled.

"It's a Magicians secret!" I say cheekily.

Reborn didn't seem to like the response. Leon crawled off his hat and into a pistol at his hand.

"Woah, stop stop." I chuckle nervously, "I mean no harm." I say, "I definitely know a lot, but I promise- I'm not an enemy of the Vongola."

"So you know about the Vongola, too." Reborn mused, Leon turning back into a chameleon and resting on the fedora once more.

I grinned. "Tsuna-kun and Takeshi are my friends, so I'm not gonna do anything that might harm them!" I say.

Reborn didn't speak further. He was probably contemplating, and I couldn't read his expressions at all. I chuckle.

"Reborn-kun," I told him, the expression on my face not a smile, "I'm just another passer by in this storyline." I said, "You shouldn't worry too much about a side character like me, and focus on your own student."

I picked Reborn up so he was facing me on an eye level.

"You guys have a lot ahead of you, after all." I smile.

Reborn, at that, leaped to my head and settled down there. "You're still feverish," he said. "Sleep."

* * *

The third time I woke up, I was being carried on someone's back. It was a bumpy ride- but a familiar one. I know this back.

"Mhm.." I whined slightly, waking up, "...Takeshi?" I asked. I rubbed my eyes tiredly, yawning, my mind foggy from sleep.

"Oh, you're awake." Takeshi turned to me briefly, "Did you sleep well?"

I leaned back down on his back, my arms wrapping itself around his neck to gain a more comfortable position. "Mhm." was the only answer I could muster.

I felt a hand on my forehead.

"Your fever's down, at least." Takeshi chuckled, "That's a relief."

"Mhm." I say again. My eyes remained close as I enjoyed the warmth radiating from his back. "The girls...?" I asked.

"Your dad called and said he'd do it for you." Takeshi told me.

Urk. That meant that they know I'm sick. That meant more coddling from Daddy dearest and Sae and Sui. "You told them?" I asked, pouting.

Those three never settled down when I got sick. It didn't rarely happen, but each time they worried and fretted and- They always wear that mortified expression on their faces. The same expression they wore every day when I was hospitalized the last time I had an attack.

I never want to see Sae and Sui wear that expression ever again.

"Yeah, I did." Takeshi hoisted me up to a higher position on the piggyback. "I told them we're having a sleepover!" he grinned at me.

I lifted my head, surprised. "Sleepover?" I had to inquire in case I heard wrong.

"Well, I'm bringing you over to Takesushi for the night. You don't wanna go home, right?" he grinned. "It's been a while since we hung out, anyways!"

I leaned in to the crook of his neck, unable to contain the smile gradually growing wider and wider on my face. "Sleepover it is, then." I say.

I'm so blessed. 


	17. Reception

**17\. Reception**

"We're gonna be late!" I rushed out the door, pulling on my shoes, "Oh-" I turned back towards the house, "Thanks for your hospitality, Tsuyoshi-san!" I call over, "C'mon, Takeshi, hurry up!"

"You're welcome, you're welcome!" Tsuyoshi laughed, "Man, you being here makes it easier to get my son to school!" he joked. "Come over any time, Rei!"

"Sorry, sorry!" Takeshi ran out after that, slipping on his shoes as well, a toast in his mouth, "Let's run!"

"No, don't run!" came Tsuyoshi's voice. "Takeshi, run your marathon yourself, Rei's not allowed to run!"

"Geh. Busted." I whined.

"Then-" Takeshi hoisted me up to his back quickly, "We just gotta do this!"

"Wait-!"

* * *

"SSSAAAFEE!" Takeshi declared upon entering the classroom. Of course, all eyes turned to him as he laughed.

I slumped at his back, dizzy at the speed. But I shook the dizziness away and smack him in the head, "Warn me before you do that!" I yell. I dropped off his back, secretly glad that I had a firm hold on my bag before we zoomed off like a jet.

"Uh, Good morning, Rei!" Kyoko greeted me. "Are you alright?"

I sigh, "Do I look alright? Takeshi just blasted off at full speed with me on his back! I can't believe we literally got to school in three minutes..."

Kyoko giggled at that. "As usual, you two get along really well!" she said.

I couldn't resist smiling back, scratching my cheek. Kyoko was a nice girl. She was so nice- she's too nice. I've known her for as long as I've known Takeshi, and I still haven't gotten used to how nice she can be to everyone.

That's just how nice she is.

* * *

"Kuma-sensei, I-" But nope. The face that greeted me in the infirmary wasn't the familiar one I've been seeing since young. "Uh, where's Kunomasu-sensei?"

"Kunomasu?" the gruff voice asked me, "Is that a guy or a girl?"

"Kuma-sensei's a guy." I reply.

"Then I don't give a shit." the guy grumbled. "You're not welcome here either. Out." he shooed me away, his legs on the table.

 _What is Shamal doing in the school infirmary?_

"I have proper permission-" I tried, "It's Physical Education, after all-"

"Guys aren't welcome in the infirmary. This place belongs to me now and I make the rules," he glared at me, "Now, out."

And I was shut out without another argument.

* * *

I was having a staredown with Hibari-san now. I'd wandered to the Reception room somehow, and I decided to knock. And when I opened the door, there the black-haired prefect was, on the desk, with papers over the table.

He raised an eyebrow. "Herbivore," he called me, "What's your business here?"

But I didn't feel intimidated. I guess I got used to him. Instead, I closed the door behind me and yawned. "Hibari-san, I got kicked out from the infirmary by a newbie teacher." I tell him, "Can I sleep here?" I asked.

* * *

"What are you doing in here?"

I opened one eye. An older male, with his hair in a pompadour- Oh, isn't this guy Hibari's vice Prez or something- what was his name again uh-

"Kusakabe-san?" I ask.

He sighed, "Yes." he said, a resigned expression on his face. "And why are you here?" he asked me again.

With just those two lines, I could understand a lot about this guy. He was very patient, in contrast to Hibari himself. He was also quite lenient and... tolerant, I could say.

I push myself up from the couch. Just then, I noticed a blanket over me. Pulling it up to my shoulders, I turned back to the prefect. "I got shut out of the infirmary." I said, "And when I came in here Hibari-san didn't say anything, so I thought it'd be okay."

Kusakabe seemed to get bewildered at that. "Eh?" he said, mildly surprised, arranging papers on Hibari's table. I sat up properly, the blanket still around me. "If I'm correct, you're the student with special permission to enter the infirmary, are you not? Why were you shut out?"

I yawned again. I'm still sleepy. Well, I'm always sleepy so- "There was this teacher in the infirmary that I haven't seen before. I think he's new."

"I see." Kusakabe arranged the papers neatly and turned back to me, holding one finished stack. "I'll be sure to inform the new nurse about your predicament, then." he said. His face was locked in a calm, collected but not stern face. He looked like a kind person, and that made me feel more comfortable and relieved.

"Thanks." I mumble. "Pardon, but do you know the time?" I ask, my head drooping to the side.

"It is currently recess." he answered simply.

"Oh," I say, "thank you." and I dropped my head back to the couch's armrest and closed my head, going back to sleep.

* * *

"Wait, Tsuna!" That sharp call was followed by a loud crash. The noise woke me up, and I was awake in time to see Gokudera get hit in the face with a tonfa.

"That's the second." Hibari said. The next to charge forward in irritation was Takeshi, who dodges the tonfa, but is blown away by a kick instead. "And that's the third."

I rolled over so I was lying on my stomach, getting a nicer view. "You seem busy, Hibari-san. Should I leave?" I speak up.

"Oh, did they wake you?" Hibari asked. "You can stay. They'll be out soon."

"Is that so." I mutter.

Just then, Tsuna woke up. "Wait- Yamamoto? Gokudera-kun? Why?" he freaked out as he found out his friends were unconscious.

"They won't wake up," Hibari told him, "I hit them to make sure of that."

Oh, it's Takeshi. I wonder if he's okay. Gokudera looks pretty bad too. Well, it's Hibari, so- And just then, a gunshot was fired by the courtesy of our amazing Hitman Tutor Reborn.

"I'LL FIGHT YOU WITH MY DYING WILL!" Tsuna yelled.

Oh, I know where we are now. Why, oh why did I run to the Reception Room on a day like this? Tsuna was instantly knocked in the chin by Hibari's tonfa, and falls back.

I get off the couch, folding the blanket properly and excusing myself. "Thanks for the hospitality." I say softly, ducking away from the battle and heading to the door.

And I barely heard Tsuna yell "I'M NOT DONE YET!" behind the door.

Okay, the Reception Room's gonna blow up anytime. I'mma run.


	18. Magic

**18\. Magic**

It was now the Season for the Athletic Festival. Time may be passing really fast in this story, but well, the manga zoomed past one year just like this! Anyway- it was time for that. The Sports Festival where everyone gets pumped up with Class Battles.

But Ninomiya Rei is a student that has absolutely nothing to do during this time. Like, if he even touches a basketball, people start screaming bloody murder.

And so, he literally gets half a day of school every day until the Festival's over. I mean, no one does anything else during the time except prepare for the festival.

And so, enough of that talking in third person- basically, I'm free!

* * *

The girls were at school and Dad was at work. The Green Clown was doing his show alone today!

I've changed into my green tailcoat, and my hat was already on my head. I did my clown makeup myself, and today was gonna be my solo show.

I clipped my hair back up with my hair pins, looking in the mirror to make sure they were on properly. I took deep breaths to calm my nerves.

It wasn't my first time doing a solo show. I did it every year during the Athletics Festival Season. But I felt nervous before every show. After all, this was a job. A job I, as Ninomiya Rei and Drew Cite's reincarnation, had to do.

 _"The Clown Troupe must go on!"_ I could hear Drew speaking in my head.

I looked at my left wrist, my right thumb trailing across the white birthmark. I brought it closer, putting it at my forehead, and closed my eyes.

"Please watch over me, brothers."

* * *

"This is a live video, so no CG is present here!" I speak into the camera, "And well, because of the time, I've no assistants today!" I laugh at myself. "Hope y'all don't mind."

I produced a wand from my wrist, multiplying it to ten and held each one in my fingers.

"Now, listeners, what do you wanna see today?"

 **Magic, obv~**

 **Anything!**

 **Hurry up, man.**

 **C'mon, go!**

 **Something awesome.**

 **Start!**

The comments on the screen flooded the video, and I chuckled at that. With a flick of my hand, I decreased the wands in my hand to two.

"Then, what about some puppies?" I asked, spinning the wands around in circles- "Eins, Zwei-" At "Drei!", the wands morphed into two stray kittens.

"Oops," I scratched my cheek bashfully. "Hi there, cuties." I greeted the cats, rubbing the backs of their heads. The cats pawed at the screen, mewing softly.

I produced a black cloth from nowhere- and covered the kittens. I removed the cloth and there they were- two little puppies.

I covered them again, and this time they disappeared.

"Now let's get the show started, shall we?"

The screen turned black.

* * *

The screen blinked on again, and music began playing. I sat, my legs crossed on the bed, a wide grin on my face.

I pulled my cape over my front, obscuring me for one long moment, emerging in a form much, much smaller than before. Within that one moment, I had turned the size of a seven-year-old.

I ran forward, pulled down my hat and covered the screen.

I removed the hat as a full-grown woman, acting seductively towards the viewers. My hand covered the camera, and I was back to being a male- but I looked like a middle-aged adult.

I bowed like a butler, and I lifted my head, returning to being my normal, teen self.

I grinned.

I grinned.

I grinned.

There were three of me now.

We looked at each other, feigned surprise, and turned to the viewers. Giggling, we took off our hats and bowed at each other.

Then, one of me tripped over air and crashed into the other two. I came back up as one person again, my clothes disheveled.

I laughed at myself.

I crossed my legs in a comfortable position on the floor. I took off my hat, reaching into it and pulling out- to my utter surprise- An infant in a suit, wearing a fedora.

 _Huh?_

I put him down carefully by the side, reaching into the hat again. This time, I picked out what looked like a cow child with an afro.

I was dripping with cold sweat now.

I carefully placed him on the other side from where Reborn was, and reached into the hat again. This time, I pulled out what looked like a purple, corroding cake.

I put it back in.

I put the hat aside, putting on a BIOHAZARD sign on it.

When I did that, Reborn jumped on my shoulder and Lambo on my lap, laughing. The video was muted, so no one could hear us aside from the music.

We spoke for a long moment- then they began fighting with grenades and violence. I grabbed them both by the scruff, on opposite hands, an angry expression on my face.

And in the next instant, they disappeared into pink smoke, replaced by a large number of rabbits that buried me under.

I snapped my fingers, and the bunnies disappeared. I gave an obvious sigh. I turned to the camera, grinned, and snapped my fingers one more time.

The screen went black.

* * *

"Sorry about that, Reborn-kun, Lambo-kun." I apologize to the kids that opened my room door again right as the camera stopped filming.

"Rei, how did you do that!" Lambo was fascinated, "I just suddenly POOFed and I was downstairs in front of the TV!" he jumped on my and gripped at my shirt.

"Magic," I explained, "It's magic."

"OOOH! Teach me magic, Rei! Teach me!" he made a fuss now.

"It's not Magic if I teach it to you, Lambo." I explain. "Honestly, I was surprised when I pulled you out of the hat! I nearly freaked out!" I whine, "Reborn-san, did you meddle with my magic?"

The infant just smiled.

"Seriously?" I had to ask. _I was half-joking just now, though._

I headed into the bathroom to clean the makeup off my face, then I changed out of my costume into a casual shirt and pants. It didn't really matter if Reborn and Lambo were in the room, right?

"Okay, let's get some breakfast from downstairs!" I smile at the two infants.

"Food!" Lambo cheered, getting on my head. I picked up Reborn and we walked downstairs. It was barely 10am now, so the girls weren't coming home for another six hours or so.

I boiled some water for coffee and hot chocolate, then I turned to the fridge. What should I make for breakfast? Since Reborn and Lambo were both Italian, I guess we can lay off the Japanese breakfast for once...

* * *

"Woah! Pancaakes!" Lambo cheered, "Yahoo!"

I placed a mug of hot chocolate in front of him, and a mug of espresso in front of Reborn. I put down normal Coffee in front of my plate, and placed a small jar of maple syrup on the table.

"Thanks fer the food!" Lambo yelled, picking up his utensils and already digging in.

"Thanks for the food," Reborn spoke up to me.

"Enjoy," I tell them. I take off my apron and hang it up, cleaning up the dishes in the sink quickly. By the time I got to my food, it wasn't as hot as before, but still mildly warm.

The pancakes turned out pretty okay, I guess. Not the best I can do... I took a sip of the coffee that wasn't exactly hot. It was warm, but not hot. Lukewarm, perhaps. But that's just how I preferred my coffee. My tongue can't handle hot drinks well.

* * *

"That was the first time I've seen your live show." Reborn mused.

I chuckle, slightly bashful. "That's a little embarrassing." I say, "I usually just go with the flow, though." I say.

"It was interesting." Reborn said. "But I couldn't figure out a few of your tricks." he admitted, "Were they optical illusions? Or actual illusions? I've seen it personally, so I know it's not Computer-generated."

 _Illusions... Mist Flames._ There is, in fact, a similarity between illusionists and magicians. I chuckle lightly. "It's magic, Reborn-kun." I say, "It's magic."

"Magic?" Reborn inquired.

"To be a clown and to be a magician." I smile, "I guess you could say that it's my **legacy**." I gulped down the last of my coffee, and traced the rim of the mug. "It's my inspiration." I say. "Even if I'd die, this is one dream I won't let go."

"You're being strangely serious about it," Reborn commented. "You're already doing your dream, aren't you?" he asked. "There's not a single one in Namimori that doesn't know of you, the Clown, Rei."

"I am." I grin wider, "But even if I can do it now- there's no guarantee I can do it forever. We can never know the full extent of what's gonna happen in our lives. That's why I'm living in the moment. I'm trying to treasure all that I have now- and do all that I can now, in the present."

 **Because that is what the Void gave me this life to do.**

"If I told you all my tricks and secrets, I wouldn't be a Magician anymore, would I?"


	19. Sawada

**19\. Sawada**

"Hey, Tsuna! I brought reinforcements!"

 _Reinforcements?_

Let's go back a little into the past: It was around the time I took my afternoon naps. I always took afternoon naps, so that's not an accurate timeline.

Anyways, I was enjoying wasting my day away like a couch potato when the doorbell started ringing. Sui, wiping her hands on her apron, went to get the door.

"Yes, yes," she said, rushing over, putting on a stool to look through the peephole on the door. She then opened the door.

"Oh, it's Takeshi-nii!" Sae's voice rang out excitedly.

"Good evening," Sui greeted him.

"Yo!" he greeted, a bright grin on his face. At this point, I raised my head curiously, looking over the couch at his intruding presence into my comfort zone. "A little sudden, but do you mind if I kidnap your brother for the night? We'll only be home after dinner."

"It's fine with me." Sui said without hesitation.

"Well, if it's Takeshi-nii, it's completely fine!" Sae grinned back in response.

 _Wait, what's going on here-_ A hand grabbed at my scruff. "Let's go, Rei!" he said, dragging me out of the house.

And before I knew it, I was standing in front of the Sawada Household.

* * *

"Oh, I'm Ninomiya Rei. I have no idea what's going on, but it seems I'm a reinforcement." I admitted to the two.

"We-Welcome, Rei-kun." Tsuna stuttered nervously, not very used to interaction with me yet.

Gokudera tutted. "We don't need you here." he spat. It seems he remembers my cigarette treatment towards him, and is antagonizing me.

"I'm Miura Haru!" the girl introduced herself sportively, "Are you Tsuna-san's friend?"

"Yes, I'm Tsuna-san's friend." I smiled back, giving the girl the friendliest first impression I could muster. "And so," I remembered the item in my hand, "I managed to procure some cake from the fridge before Takeshi kidnapped me. Want some?" I offered, taking out a white box, "It's a full cake, though."

"Hahi! You're a nice guy!" Haru was happy.

"Quit that!" Gokudera snapped. "We're here to help the Tenth and the Baseball Idiot with homework!" he scolded me, perhaps.

I put the cake aside. "Oh, homework." I say, "If that's the case, which question are y'all stuck on?" I brought a smile to my face.

"Tch, why're you acting so confident?" Gokudera scowled at me.

I put a finger at his lips. "Shh, Bomber boy," I say, "Let's not be so snappy."

He bit my finger.

I laugh.

* * *

"This is incredible, Rei-kun!" Tsuna complimented me, "I got it all done in a flash!" he awed, looking over his homework again as if he couldn't believe it was all finished.

Yamamoto laughed, "Rei's super smart!" he said, keeping his books into his bag. He briefly turned to Hayato. "Probably smarter than Gokudera." he decided to say.

"Hahi! Haru can't even match up." Haru said. She was in awe too. She'd come over uninvited as usual to the household, but even her advanced studies couldn't match up to some of the questions that were given by Tsuna's crazy teachers.

"I'm not dumber than this guy!" Gokudera retorted, pointing a rude finger at me, "I can win him in the other subjects! Probably!" he was desperate.

"Don't be such a tryhard, Gokudera-kun." Haru gave him a skeptic side glance.

"What did you say, stupid woman?" that set the bomber off.

Deciding I should make peace with Gokudera, I thought up ways to make up have a truce in our relationship. "Well, but all I can do is study, so you guys have me beat in everything else." I deny the fact, sipping on juice that Nana brought up for us. "So Hayato-kun wins against me."

"Really?" Gokudera piped up, "Wait- Who gave you permission to call me Hayato?"

"Oh, I can't? Sorry." I didn't sound apologetic enough, "I call almost everyone on first name basis, so it's a hard habit to break."

"You piss me off to no end." Gokudera spat.

"Thank you very much." I say.

"THAT'S IT, I'LL KILL YOU!" he snapped.

Takeshi holds him back. "Now, now, we got our homework done!" he tried to soothe the boy.

"That's amazing, he's standing up to Gokudera like it's nothing." I heard Tsuna mumble. I shoot him a smile, telling him I definitely heard that. Immediately, he jumped and scurried away behind Takeshi.

I then turned to Haru. "Hey, Haru-chan, wanna see some magic?" I ask. "A free show just for you guys!" I offer.

"Hahi! I thought your name sounded familiar- you're the leader of the Clown Troupe!" Haru realized, a hand over her mouth in a gasp, "I'm a big fan! May I have your signature?"

I chuckled at that. Who asks for autographs from an online clown? Actually, I've just never had one before. A face-to-face fan that asked for an autograph. It was a nice experience.

"What?" Gokudera raised an eyebrow at that, not understanding why my autograph was asked for, "What's going on here?" he asked.

"Oh, Gokudera, you don't know? Rei's a Magician." Takeshi said, pointing at me. "He's pretty popular."

"Tch. Magic's just a bunch of mumbo jumbo that tricks your eyes." he turned away. Gokudera was, as I'd expected, quite a science man. I'd suspect only UMAs could catch his interests. "Tenth, let's not entertain this faker and-" he stood up, leaving the room.

"Now, now Gokudera!" Takeshi caught Hayato and pulled him down so he wouldn't escape, "Let's just watch the show! It's amazing, I promise!"

"I've watched his shows before, and they're pretty cool." Tsuna tried, admitting the fact, "Mom's a fan too."

It didn't take long for the three of them to settle down on one side of the room in anticipation. I sigh, taking out an eye mask from my shirt pocket. When I had no time for makeup, I used a masquerade mask.

Of course, mine was green.

"I brought this." Reborn appeared at the side, holding out my top hat. He's appeared out of virtually nowhere, earning a few surprised yelps.

"Thanks, Reborn-kun." I say, fitting the hat on my head and fixing my hairclips. I stood up, bringing my left wrist up to my forehead and closed my eyes.

 _"Please watch over me, brothers."_ I whisper softly.

I smiled, opening my eyes. I raised my arm towards the sky.

"Ladies and gentlemen!"

* * *

"Thanks a lot for the night, Sawada-san." I bowed politely. "Dinner was delicious," I gave her the most childlike smile I could muster, because I know she'd be happy with it.

"My, thank you!" she was definitely happy, "Oh, you can just call me Maman, everyone calls me that." she said, "Come by anytime! I hope you'll continue taking care of my No-good son, too!" she said.

I blushed slightly. "I will, Maman." I tried saying.

It was embarrassing to say but- it was definitely, definitely, something I'd wanted to try saying for a long, long time.

"Thanks again for your hospitality." I bow in gratitude.

* * *

"So, Gokudera-kun," I speak up to the Bomber boy, "Can we be friends?"

"Huh?" he was repulsed by the fact, "I'm only friends with the tenth!" he declared, "We don't need you around, especially because you're suspicious! What if you're from an enemy Family!"

I paused. " _Family?_ " I spoke the word the English, "As in- family? Enemy, family?" I questioned, playing dumb, "Huh?" I added.

He froze in shock. Oh no, could it be, that I don't know anything about the Mafia?

"Oh!" I faked realization, "Is it that Mafia thing Reborn-kun mentioned?" I asked. "I've heard Mafia Organizations are referred to as 'Family'. So it's true!"

This time, Gokudera was surprised. "You were invited by Reborn-san?" he questioned.

I shook my head. "He just mentioned it when I asked about it." I explained, "You're so cool, being in the Mafia and all." I grin.

"Cool, you say-" and Gokudera blushes. "It's nothing, really!"

I chuckle.

And just then, I felt a weight on my head. "This is great timing." Reborn was on my head again.

"Great timing?" Gokudera and I asked, "For what?"

"Why don't you join the Mafia, Rei?" Reborn suggested, "We could use someone like you around." he said.

 _Eh?_

Wait, that wasn't exactly part of the plan-


	20. Kids

**20\. Kids**

"Attendance!" I declared, sitting on the chair with my arms crossed. In front of me were four children, lined up side by side and acting all military.

"Sae, Here!" the girl saluted, responding sportively.

"Sui, Present." the second girl saluted too, but with a much less spirited voice than the previous.

"Lambo-san is here!" the third child imitated the two older girls, saluting and responding loudly.

"I-pin, yes!" came the fourth voice.

"I shall now declare the mission for today!" I declared, standing up majestically, my voice booming. "And that is... Grocery shopping!"

"Yes, yes," called a hungover Dad from the couch, "I'm glad you're all having fun, but you should hurry on before the rush hour arrives."

"By orders of the Grand Marshall, we shall set out!" I declared.

" _Sir, yes, sir!_ " they replied in English.

* * *

"零哥, 我要那個!" (Rei-nii, I want that!) I-pin tugged at my pant sleeve, pointing at the direction of the ice cream vendor. "零哥!" (Rei-nii!)

"Hm? What is it, I-pin?" I crouched down, "Oh, you want that?"

I reached into my pocket. Well, I had plenty of cash left over. I guess an ice cream or two won't hurt. "你知道该怎么问吗?" I spoke in Chinese, (Do you know how to ask?).

I-pin nodded, accepting the money gratefully, said a "谢谢" in thanks and scurried off towards the vendor.

I knew the Chinese language, mainly due to Drew's influence. It seems like it was her mother tongue in her past life. Speaking Chinese as Ninomiya Rei almost felt refreshing.

As for why I'm in this predicament, Reborn found out I could speak I-pin's language and sent me off on a babysitting job. Well, I had to take care of Sae and Sui anyways. It's just two more young children around.

"Rei-chan, I procured Butter!" Sae announced.

"I got milk and cheese." Sui said.

Placing it in the cart, I praised Sae and Sui for a good job well done and sent them off on the next ingredient to procure.

"I got grape candy!" Lambo laughed. "And chocolate!"

...Grape candy wasn't in the list. I sighed. But at least he grabbed the correct item too. I sent him off on potato chip duty.

"萝卜!" (Carrots!) called I-pin.

"Oh, thanks, I-pin." I pet her on the head. I-pin was so diligent. So, so diligent. She's such a good girl oh my god-

* * *

"棉花糖!" (cotton candy) I-pin called out as we were heading home, pointing at the stall.

This caught the attention of the other children, who were instantly fascinated by the fluffy sweet.

"Oh, Rei-chan, me too!" Sae said, one of her hand carrying a shopping bag, the other hand on Sui's.

"Rei-chan, Please?" Sui looked up at me with puppy eyes.

"Lambo-san too!" the cow child said, "Lambo-san volunteers to buy it!" he said.

 _You volunteer, but I'm paying, right?_ I didn't ask. I chuckle. Guess there's no saying no to them anymore. I hand them what I felt was sufficient cash and waited for them with the shopping bags as they ran off to the stall.

I sigh, putting the bags into the trolley. Taking care of children was fun, but definitely tiring! At least I didn't have to move about as much to get groceries...

And when I'd turn back towards the stall- the children were nowhere to be seen.

Huh?

They're not at the cotton candy vendor. Not to the left- not to the right. Not in that flower shop right beside either. Left. Right. No signs of the four.

"I lost the kids!" I yelled into the phone, "I mean, one second they're there and the next second they're gone! And what's worse, the rush hour is coming! There's too many people around for me to go look for them without getting lost myself! Help!"

...

 _"Uh, first of all, calm down, Rei. I'll be there in a sec."_

* * *

"I'm so sorry, Sawada Mama!" I bowed over and over again in apology, "I promised to take care of the kids, too!"

Nana chuckled, "Oh, it's alright!" she assured me, "I know they're a handful. And in these moments, it's important not to panic."

The one I had dialed in the spur of the moment happened to be Takeshi, who called up Tsuna and Gokudera for help. And thus, Nana heard the news by grapevine and here she is.

"It's probably the stupid cow's fault, anyways." Gokudera groaned, "What a pain."

"Well, I'm sure Rei's worried about Sae and Sui, so let's hurry up and find them. With this many of us, we'll find them in a jiffy!" Takeshi assured.

"So we're splitting up?" Tsuna asked. "What about the grocery bags?"

"Then, Tsuna, Rei and I will take them." In came Reborn, "Right?"

* * *

"Sorry about this, Rei-san." Tsuna spoke up hesitantly, three shopping bags in his hands, "You probably want to search for your sisters, but-"

 _It's my fault... what if they were kidnapped or- I mean, Lambo gets into this mess all the time! I'm sure I-pin can handle self-defense, so they should've been fine! Sae and Sui wouldn't just run off without my permission-_

"Rei," Reborn spoke up from my head.

I snapped myself out of it. What am I doing, making the main characters worried about me? I brought a smile to my face, lifting up the shopping bags in my hands and chuckled. "We bought a little too much, didn't we? I'm sorry you had to help me out, Tsuna-kun!"

He looked skeptic.

"Well then, we better hurry!" I pumped a fist, "Sae and Sui are probably lost, and they probably don't recognize Gokudera either! I'll needa be there." I was grinning, desperately giving out a 'I'm totally fine' sign, and hoping they'd get the message.

Reborn didn't look happy. Tsuna didn't look convinced.

And so, I boosted my steps. "C'mon, Tsuna-kun!" I call, laughing, "race you to my house!"

* * *

"Dad?" I call into the house, pushing the door open with my back, kicking off my shoes, "Dad, you home?" I call louder.

"Welcome back?" came a groggy voice from the couch.

He looked disheveled, still half in a suit and his now shoulder-length hair was all over the place, the hair tie having fallen apart in his sleep. He looked tired, and was yawning as well.

"Dad, help sort out the groceries. I gotta run back out. The girls are gone." I told him, placing the bags on the table and instructing him.

"Uh, sorry for the intrusion..." Tsuna whispered, walking in hesitantly and placing the bags down as well. He was trying not to make a presence.

"Oh, a new friend?" Dad asked, seeing Tsuna, "And Reborn-kun is here too." he noted.

...

"Wait, the girls are gone?" he freaked out.

"You're slow!" I snapped at him. "Anyway, leave them to me and help me settle the groceries! Dad, I declare that today, you're on dinner duty!" I pointed at him. "That's all."

"Wait, and all of a sudden I'm in charge of dinner?"

"Don't burn the house down half asleep!" I warn, taking Tsuna's hand and pulling him towards the entrance, leaving. "I'm off!"

* * *

Tsuna chuckled.

I look over, confused. "What's so funny, Tsuna-kun?" I asked.

"Eh- well," Tsuna smiled at me, "It's just- I guess- Rei-san has a side of him that we don't usually see, too." he said. "It's a little unexpected."

We were running back towards the shopping street. That little exchange was incredibly brief, and I didn't answer further. I eyed Tsuna skeptically, but he did not catch my gaze.

His eyes were locked forward- in those determined, resolved eyes I remember seeing in my childhood.

* * *

 ** _AN: Before I begin this An, I would like to thank all my readers and especially my reviewers. All of you are the best. I regret not being able to respond to you individually, but I would want to express my utmost thanks in your support and encouragement. They really motivate me every time._**

 ** _and here is where I decided an explanation is needed about Drew's origins! As you have read, Drew's mother tongue is Chinese... But her name is not very Asian, hm?_**

 ** _Drew is of mixed blood. Her father's line was European, but her mother was Asian. When they had their first child, they moved to China and raised their children there. Thus, Drew's first language was Chinese._**

 ** _But her parents are traveling magicians. They traveled around Asia a lot, and thus if they stayed long they had to pick up languages along the way. Thus, Drew's second language was English._**

 ** _But when Eve was of age, the couple traveled back to Europe to continue their Circus Troupe. They took care of their children until Zen was of age, and left them in France to pursue their own ways._**

 ** _So Drew knew many languages. Chinese, English, Indonesian perhaps- I wonder if she even knows Tagalog. But another language she definitely knows is French, because she spent her teens in France. Her brothers conversed to her in Chinese, English or French._**

 ** _Drew never really picked up Japanese. She was a fan of anime, but there's only so much she can learn. Well, weaboo much?  
_**

 ** _But Rei is 100% Japanese. He picked up Japanese as a first language, and he's planning on picking up Italian in the future._**


	21. Found

**21\. Found**

We were nearing the shopping street now, having run the whole way from my house.

Then suddenly, my world froze over for half a second. My face fell into a frown and I stopped running.

"Hm?" Tsuna was confused, "Rei-san?" he asked, probably wondering why I stopped.

"Let's split up here. I think we'll find them easier like that." I told him, a smile on my face. At this point, we were at the entrance of the shopping street. "I'm head down the left, Tsuna-kun and Reborn-kun, down the right?" I suggest.

Thankfully, Reborn leaped off my head and to Tsuna's instead. It seems they were fine with the suggestion. "Then-" Tsuna said, "I'll call you when we find them."

I nodded. I turned around the same time he did, and we parted ways. But almost immediately, I turned into the next alley I passed by.

My legs stopped. My body fell heavily against the wall and my knees gave way.

I had a coughing fit, and only the desperate need of oxygen made me stop for half a second before I started up again. I coughed into my hand over and over- and slowly, the hacking grew more painful.

When I finally, _finally_ stopped, I was exhausted.

I felt like I'd been coughing for an eternity, and I was breathing heavily. I shifted my position and leaned my back against the wall.

I was covered in sweat.

* * *

I wiped away the sweat on my forehead with the back of my hand.

I picked myself up, the wall a support I needed as my legs gradually stopped shaking and stabilized me like they were supposed to.

"I need to look for the girls... and Lambo and I-pin." I reminded myself.

This isn't the time to be worrying over my stupid lung. The children were lost, and everyone else is looking for them now. I shouldn't be adding onto their list of worries.

I shook negative thoughts out of my head and brought a smile to my face.

"Now I gotta look for the kids."

I stepped out of the alley and back into the street.

* * *

"You found them?" I spoke, unable to suppress the surprise in my voice.

 _"Yeah. We're where we started. Y'know, the cotton candy vendor's place-"_

"I'm near. I'll be there in a sec." I replied, hanging up quickly.

I didn't cough again after that, but my knees felt weak. My throat burned even though I drank water, and my head began to hurt. But still, I was looking around the shopping street, making my way around desperately, searching for signs of the kids.

Something is wrong with my lungs- and it's not good. I've been able to ignore it the past few weeks, but eventually it's gonna get worse. This is such a pain!

I slapped myself out of those thoughts. _Snap out of it, Rei._ Be happy. Smile. _Be 'Rei'._

* * *

"Rei-chan!" Sae and Sui ran over to me the moment I emerged from the crowd.

"Sae, Sui!" I called, crouching down to their height and wrapping my arms around the girls. They were all teary eyed and latched onto me instantly.

"Rei-chan, sorry!" Sae cried.

I patted them on the head soothingly, whispering 'there, there' in an attempt to calm them down. Dearie me, my girls were such crybabies sometimes...

"Apparently, their money was stolen so Lambo and I-pin gave chase." Takeshi gave me a report, a nervous smile on his face, "Then Sae and Sui ran after them and well, they got lost."

"So basically, the stupid cow's the cause of all this." Gokudera groaned. "We got the money back somehow, though." he was holding an amount of cash in his hands and handed it to me.

"I see..." I say, "Thanks for finding them for me," I smile as genuinely as I could, "And for getting the money back."

I sent a look towards Lambo and I-pin.

Tsuna shoved the two towards me. "C'mon, you two, go up to Rei-san." he nudged, giving them a serious eye and sending them towards me. The kids did as told, but one of them didn't get the point of apology.

Lambo laughed, "Rei, Lambo-san defeated the robbers!" he declared.

"I-pin sorry." she said. At least this one seemed apologetic.

I sighed. _"Nevertheless, next time, don't chase after them, I-pin."_ I scolded in Chinese, _"Just come back and I'll give you some more money, alright? No chasing after robbers! It's dangerous!"_

I-pin looked down, giving a short nod in understanding.

"And Lambo!" I raised my voice, and the child stood up straight on alert. "No grape candy for you!" I declared.

"EHHH?" he freaked out, "Wait, Lambo-san is sorry too! Grape candddyy!"

I turned away from him. "Sae and Sui, stop crying!" I scolded the girls, who quickly stood up on alert as well, "Next time you get lost, you run to any of the shopkeepers, and they should know my name and where our house is."

"Yes..." the two pouted.

I stood up and walked towards my three classmates, Reborn and Nana. I bowed lowly. "Once again, I'm really sorry for the trouble today!" I say, "I guess I'm not much of a good babysitter." I chuckle at that, "Thanks so much for helping me out."

I got kicked in the face by Reborn.

"Rei, you're being too formal." he mumbled, sounding offended.

"Eh?" I question.

"Yeah, you make us sound like strangers!" Takeshi chimed in, "Aren't we your friends?"

"It's suffocating," Gokudera said, "Stop it."

"Th-They're right, Rei-san." Tsuna spoke up, "I think speaking casually is alright with us. And well, Lambo and I-pin were involved so it's alright! Really!" he tried to assure me, "And it's probably Reborn's fault for throwing the two on you when you definitely have your hands full of your sisters-"

"Are you blaming me, Dame-Tsuna?"

"Wha- Wait, no! Don't shoot!"

It was such- a warm scene. Friendship. Was this acceptance? Was I apart of them now? It felt amazing- much much more than I thought it would be.

It made me chuckle. And I ended up laughing.

The three turned to me, and they burst into laughter too.


	22. Household

**22\. Household**

"And then, Lambo-san got blown away again..." Lambo sniffed, on the verge of crying, his eyes teary and his nose all stuffed.

I chuckled. Lambo was in my arms, like a doll, and he was whining about his failures again. He's been complaining since I accidentally saw him in the infirmary, and I've skipped the rest of class.

I took out a tissue and had him blow his nose.

"Well, Lambo-kun," I hug him tighter, "I'm sure you'll get stronger! And one day, you'll finally beat Reborn-kun. I know you will!" I assure him.

(Though, Lambo may probably never get stronger than Reborn.)

"Of course! Lambo-san will definitely defeat Reborn!" the cow child cheered up quickly, making a declaration.

Suddenly, he was kicked in the face.

"Who are you gonna defeat, stupid cow?" Reborn intervened, jumping to my head after landing the kick.

"Reborn, you bastard!" Lambo yelled, "I'll-" he picked out a grenade, pulling out the pin and- found out the grenade was stuck on his hand with some sort of glue. It exploded at his face, luckily not hitting mine, and the cow child was left baffled.

And so, Lambo began crying again.

I sighed. It took me so long to make him stop crying!

* * *

"Only members of the Sawada Residence may enter from this point on."

Getting stopped from entering my friend's house in such a threatened way was a first. I'm not sure which was more surprising- the fact that I wasn't allowed passage; I wasn't informed of this horde of men in black; or the fact that all of them were glaring at me now.

Ah- I remember now. If there's so many people, this must be Dino.

"Rei, who are they?" Lambo asked, in my arms. He was just being oblivious as usual, and I wouldn't be surprised if he jumped out and started declaring war.

I hugged Lambo tighter. "Uh," I spoke up, "I'm Tsuna-kun's friend..." I tried. Would they let me in with that? If they didn't, would they kick me out?

"Are you a part of the Famiglia?" they questioned, an eyebrow raised.

"I was invited, I guess..." I mumbled.

"Lambo-san sees Reborn!" Lambo pointed at Tsuna's window, jumped out of my arms, and ran past the men in black and into the household.

"Stop!" the men yelled, "Stop that child!"

Weapons were drawn and- I dashed forward, my hand grabbing the wrist of the man nearest to Lambo before his gun was completely drawn.

"Wait, wait, WAIT!" I raised my voice, "I'm sorry but-" Guns were instantly raised and pointed at me, but I tried not to waver as I heard the guns clocking. I gulped. "That kid lives there." I said as quickly as I could, unintentionally swallowing my words, "He lives here."

Uninterested at the situation, Lambo ran into the house.

I held my breath. The mafioso eyed me warily for a long moment before they all withdrew their guns, putting the safety back on and tucking them back into their suits.

I breathed out a sigh in relief. "My apologies," I say, "I should've said that first."

They apologized as well, bowing in sincerity at the 'rudeness' towards an 'honored guest'. They seemed nervous now, trying their best to show their apologies.

I assured them it was alright.

"Wait, guys. Something's-" someone suddenly spoke up, "look up!" was an alarmed reaction that made other heads turn, including mine, towards the window of Tsuna's room.

"What is that?"

Two pink, grenade-looking objects were falling, having been thrown out from the window. The strange colour made the objects look like toys, so the mafioso were confused.

But I knew those weren't toys.

"Those are-!" I said in a loud voice, "Lambo's bombs!"

Just then, someone leaped out from the window. A blonde, older figure, in a green parka- the one and only Dino Cavallone.

"Get down, guys!" he ordered, producing his whip into his hands. With skilled, trained precision, his whip grabbed hold of the two grenades, and he flung them into the sky and away from any objects-

Then, they exploded. He landed on the ground almost gracefully, unharmed and looking cool while he did so. He even gave his men a smile, and apologized lightly for it with a laugh. His men laughed it off as well, complimenting their boss' cool actions and daily surprises.

And I- I was starstruck. That scene had always been cool. Dino, coupled with his subordinates. It was a simple action- but it was very, very important in showing just how much Dino cared for his Family. How far Dino would go to protect his men. How Dino was a Boss worth following.

"Dino, why don't you stay over today?" Reborn's voice interrupted my thoughts.

"Hm? Sure, but what about these guys?" Dino shrugged at his subordinates.

"You can just have them go back." Reborn suggested.

"Well, if it's Reborn-san, it'd be fine." one of his men chuckled. "It's a load off our shoulders!" another joked.

At that, Dino blushed. "Man, you guys." he said. "All right, then. I'll stay and give the Vongola Tenth a piece of advice or two."

That was settled quickly.

"Rei, why don't you stay over too?" Reborn's voice intruded into my thoughts again. "Since you're already here, anyways."

I quickly turned up, "Eh?" I said, "I can?" it sounded cool. A sleepover at Tsuna's house. I've never been close enough with anyone except Takeshi to hang out like this.

(But I've been trying to avoid getting too associated with the plot. Should I not? Dino's here after all. I know what mayhem is gonna occur.)

"Of course. Maman has really been wanting to invite you over." Reborn said, smirking.

Oh, Maman. I'd almost forgotten about that woman's unending kindness.

"Then, it's decided that you're staying over tonight."

* * *

Staring contests are impossibly boring. It didn't take rocket science to know that. But here I am, indulging myself in an intense staring match with none other than Bianchi.

Everyone except us and Nana were up in Tsuna's room talking about one thing or another, so as Nana was cooking we were left alone in the living room to ourselves.

Deciding five whole minutes was long enough, I brought a smile to my face. "I'm Ninomiya Rei." I introduced myself. "It's nice to meet you."

Still skeptic, but the woman played along. A hand at her hip, she produced a slight smile as well. "I'm Bianchi." she said, "same to you."

Now to one thing I'm still wondering about-

"This may be a random question," I spoke up, in a slightly sing-song tone.

Instantly, my eyes narrowed, going serious. "Why were you aiming for my sisters' lives?" I asked. I wasn't as much angry as curious now. Why? She was, ultimately, a hitwoman. She didn't aim for people discriminately. She needed a motive.

Bianchi's smile fell too. "How do you know of the Mafia?" her response surprised me. "Are you perhaps in league with- that man?" her eyes were narrowed as well. It was sly of her to answer my question with a question, but she was being entirely serious about the situation.

I glared. _That man_? How abstract. _Playing the pronoun_ _game, are we?_ Who is she referring to?

She sighed and loosened her shoulders. "That was a tip I got from an outside source," she explained, seemingly deciding I deserved an explanation. "There are rumors that your family has ties to a certain irritating man." she explained, "Perhaps, it is due to your last name, but that man is a dangerous enough presence for me to have taken hasty actions."

My last name. I'm sure 'Ninomiya' isn't exactly the most common name out there, but I'm sure we're not the only Ninomiyas in the entirety of the world. This was a ridiculous theory. She's hiding more, but she isn't even telling me who she is referring to. Omerta, perhaps?

I breathed out. "That does not justify your actions." I say, "What exactly," I emphasized my words, "is this man you speak of?"

She sighed again. "Since you know of the Mafia, for some reason, you should know of the Omerta we have to follow." she said. "And in this world there is one man that is constantly breaking the Omerta- namely, an information broker."

I froze. This isn't part of the storyline. This wasn't mentioned at all, in the actual canon storyline. An anomaly. Abnormal. -This does not belong. An information broker. That's- Reborn mentions this at some point. The ones that break the Omerta are captured by the Vindice- so why isn't this man captured?

"What does this have to do with us?" I spoke, sounding calmer than I felt.

"This information broker is double-edged sword. No one wants him around, and no one should get on his bad side. He's also a master of disguise, and thus far the only thing we've known of him is a name. Ninomiya." she said. "We're not even sure if that's his name, we just know the name links to him."

"And so, you decided to give my sisters poisoned juice because they have the name?" I growled, unintentionally sounding angry. I was angry. Are you kidding me? She's never been reasonable but- are you telling me she's trying to kill us because of some goddamn rumour?

"I must apologize," she suddenly said, surprising me. She bowed lightly, "I gave you information, so could we make peace?" she asked, raising her hands in a mock surrender. "I've come to the conclusion that you have probably no ties to that man whatsoever. I promise I won't touch your sisters again." she said.

Her voice was stuck on a monotone the whole way through, as she usually did when she spoke, but she sounded honest. It didn't feel like a trick- not that she ever made any tricks in speech.

But my instincts say she's being honest. And if that's so- I can trust her. She's a canon character after all, she's naturally a good guy. And so, I raised my hands up, imitating her mock surrender.

"And?" I smirked, "In exchange for that information, what do you demand?"

It was a joke, of course, but I just felt that way- like she was going to ask for something in return. It was great thinking that she would trust me enough and feel apologetic enough to apologize right off the bat, even giving valuable information as a price- but that was just unreal.

"How do you know about the Mafia?" she held no hesitation in her voice. "What on earth are you?" she questioned, her eyes narrowing as her gaze turns stern.

I chuckled. As expected.

"I'm a Magician." I say. "And I've been invited by Reborn into the Vongola Famiglia." I explain. "As for how I know this, including your identity- let's just assume that I'm not much of a civilian as the majority of this household may think." I smile.

I'm not lying.

She looked confused for a moment, and I smiled back. She seemed very, very unsatisfied with my answer. And so, I sat down on the couch and signaled her to sit down beside me. Bianchi, still skeptic, plopped down by my side.

That was a sign of trust. I felt a little happy to see that. I leaned closer so my shoulder touched hers. She eyed me warily, so I giggled, telling her the wall had ears.

"Hey, Bianchi," I spoke, loud enough for her to hear, but soft enough so the sound didn't travel to the kitchen. I let out a soft smile and a light chuckle.

"Do you believe in the afterlife?"

 _It's because we can't trust each_ _other that we can believe each other._


End file.
